Two jailbreakers caught on border

THE flight of two of the six men who broke out of Windhoek Central Prison early on Monday came to an end almost 1 300 kilometres from the capital yesterday.

Farm massacre suspect Gavin Beukes (26) and murder and rape suspect Deon Engelbrecht (23) were arrested at the Ngoma border post in the Caprivi Region yesterday morning, a Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Kauna Shikwambi, told The Namibian yesterday afternoon. She said Beukes and Engelbrecht were together when they were arrested at Ngoma, which is situated on the border of Namibia and Botswana and is close to 1 300 km from Windhoek.The other trial-awaiting suspects who escaped from the prison with Beukes and Engelbrecht in the early hours of Monday were still unaccounted for by late yesterday, Shikwambi said further.The other escapees are Morris Mazila Sibitwani (29), a resident of the Caprivi Region who is accused of having murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her to death at Katima Mulilo on April 19 2003, and Zimbabwean nationals Plan Ndebele (31), Mthulishi Sibanda (27) and Nesias Matole (33), who are accused of having taken part in bank robberies in Windhoek and at Okahandja and Gobabis in March, April and May this year.According to Namibian Prison Service spokesman Ignatius Mainga, the six men escaped from their cell after sawing through the bars on their cell window, climbing onto the prison’s roof, and later cutting through a razor-wire fence and climbing over an electrified fence.It is suspected that they may have managed to get hold of the saw during a court appearance by one or some of the escapees.The Police’s Public Relations and Liaison Division has appealed to the public to help trace the six escaped prisoners.People were warned, however, not to try to arrest any of the six, “because they are considered to be armed and dangerous”, according to the Police.The Police asked anyone with information on the six escaped men’s whereabouts to contact Detective Chief Inspector Michael Unandapo at 081 124 0521 or (061) 209 4302.She said Beukes and Engelbrecht were together when they were arrested at Ngoma, which is situated on the border of Namibia and Botswana and is close to 1 300 km from Windhoek.The other trial-awaiting suspects who escaped from the prison with Beukes and Engelbrecht in the early hours of Monday were still unaccounted for by late yesterday, Shikwambi said further.The other escapees are Morris Mazila Sibitwani (29), a resident of the Caprivi Region who is accused of having murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her to death at Katima Mulilo on April 19 2003, and Zimbabwean nationals Plan Ndebele (31), Mthulishi Sibanda (27) and Nesias Matole (33), who are accused of having taken part in bank robberies in Windhoek and at Okahandja and Gobabis in March, April and May this year. According to Namibian Prison Service spokesman Ignatius Mainga, the six men escaped from their cell after sawing through the bars on their cell window, climbing onto the prison’s roof, and later cutting through a razor-wire fence and climbing over an electrified fence.It is suspected that they may have managed to get hold of the saw during a court appearance by one or some of the escapees.The Police’s Public Relations and Liaison Division has appealed to the public to help trace the six escaped prisoners.People were warned, however, not to try to arrest any of the six, “because they are considered to be armed and dangerous”, according to the Police.The Police asked anyone with information on the six escaped men’s whereabouts to contact Detective Chief Inspector Michael Unandapo at 081 124 0521 or (061) 209 4302.