The Zambezi police are investigating allegations that intoxicated officers assaulted and intimidated Ndoro Memorial School hostel pupils over a damaged padlock, injuring several boys.
Ndoro Memorial School is situated at Omega 3 in the Kongola constituency.
An unofficial report shared with The Namibian by parents claims the assault happened when the school superintendent called the police at around 21h30 on Saturday after an unknown pupil allegedly put a stick into a padlock.
This resulted in the superintendent being unable to lock or open the hostel rooms.
An unknown number of police officers from Omega 3 Police Station then allegedly arrived at the hostel premises under the influence of alcohol and started interrogating the boys about the padlock.
When they were not provided answers, the police officers allegedly went on to assault the boys with batons.
As a result, three boys allegedly sustained severe injuries, while others sustained minor injuries.
One of the boys’ mothers yesterday told The Namibian that parents have been seeking answers from the school’s management on the assault of their children, but have not been getting any direct responses.
She said the school is keeping the boys in the hostel without medical attention.
“My son did not even go to school on Monday because he was still in pain.
I live too far to go get my son to take him to the hospital.
“We left our children in the care of the school management as guardians in our absence.
However, such things happen, and they cannot even answer us or take our children for a medical checkup,” she said.
The mother said she only got hold of her son late on Monday evening because he was hiding his cellphone so it would not be taken by the hostel staff and police officers.
“When he answered later, my son informed me that the same police officers were called again to search for their phones, because the boys were telling their parents about the incident.
“My question is why would the school management want to cover up the story to the extent of using the same police officers to intimidate our children not to tell us?” she asked.
Zambezi regional education director Alex Sikume this week confirmed that an incident of assault was reported at Ndoro Memorial School hostel, but said he could only comment after receiving a full report from the school management.
Acting Zambezi regional police commander deputy commissioner Magdalena Garises on Monday said the police can only comment on the incident after investigating it.
Kongola-based community activist Glen Shebo demands an immediate, impartial, and comprehensive joint investigation by the regional education directorate and the police.
He says the superintendent calling the police was an unnecessary escalation of a minor disciplinary matter.
“Any allegation that police officers acted while intoxicated, used unlawful or excessive force, or abused their authority should be subjected to both criminal and internal disciplinary investigation under the applicable Namibian legal and police-governance framework,” he says.
He says the school’s management has the responsibility to not only educate these pupils but also needs to protect their dignity and welfare within educational institutions.
