Eighth prison escapee nabbed

Chakalisa Dube | Thursday January 26, 2017 11:40

 

About two weeks ago, 18 dangerous prisoners destroyed the prison fence with a manhole cover and fled custody,sending shock waves around the city and the country at large. On Tuesday night, the Botswana Prison Service acting with the police, army and state security agents nabbed Rowland Moyo, a Zimbabwean, who is charged with robbery.

Moyo was arrested in full view of members of the public at busy Galo Mall. Prisons spokesperson, Wamorena Ramolefhe confirmed Moyo’s arrest yesterday. “Moyo was arrested at around 9pm.

We are on the trail of the other escapees and we can assure the members of the public that more arrests will be made soon,” Ramolefhe said.

It is unclear whether authorities acted on a tip-off or whether they had been tracking Moyo.

Moyo is the second suspect to be arrested in the city while others were recaptured in Tutume, Tatisiding and Masingwaneng. Only one escapee, Thabani Ncube who is facing a murder charge in Botswana, was arrested in his home country, Zimbabwe.

Ncube is currently in custody in Zimbabwe where he has pending criminal cases. 

Moyo and the other six men, Gaomodimo Molosiwa, Mlindeli Moyo, Sicelo Sibanda, Godwin Mapunganyika, Charlotte Ndlovu and Methuli Sibanda are expected to appear in court soon, where they will be charged with escaping from lawful custody.

The 18 escapees, who are described as dangerous, face serious charges of murder and robbery. Three of them are Batswana while 15 are Zimbabweans. Three of them, among them Molosiwa were already serving sentences at the time of the escape.

Police have indicated that most of the suspects who have escaped are believed to be within the city and its environs.

Chakalani Barati, Musa Willy, Elvis Ndlovu, Dzikhamani Ndebele, Innocent Nyoni, Edwin Ncube, Sunganai Tafiraushe, Givemore Chaloba, Brilliant Thabisani and Bruce Masuku are the escapees still on the run.