Doctor attacked at knifepoint in clinic
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday September 25, 2018 13:59
One of the accused persons, Koziba Stanford, was released from jail this year after serving time for robbery and still has other pending robbery charges, according to the police.
Stanford allegedly committed the armed robbery offence with accomplice, Michael Koloi and another person who is still on the run.
According to police officers privy to the issue, but are not allowed to publicly speak to the media about the matter, the duo appeared before Chief Magistrate Taboka Mopipi on September 13 and will appear before the same court on September 27 for status report.
The police sources added that efforts to arrest the third accused person are still underway.
“The three accused persons arrived at Area W clinic at around 8pm whereupon they entered into the doctor’s consultation room while the doctor was still attending to a patient. They then drew knives and threatened to stab the doctor if he refused to give them money and cellphone. The doctor did not have money. The thieves then took his cellphone and ran away,” one of the sources said.
Asked by this reporter where the security guard was when the thieves attacked the doctor, the sources said the guard was outside patrolling within the clinic and was not aware that some thugs masquerading as patients have entered the clinic.
“The situation was just normal and it happened unexpectedly because there were other people who were inside the clinic who came for medical attention. The guys just pounced unexpectedly. The guard cannot be faulted for this incident,” added another source.
After the trio escaped, the sources said, the matter was thereafter reported to Tatitown police.
Luckily and coincidently, another robbery incident happened at Riverside location moments after the doctor was robbed at Area W clinic, said the sources.
“The police reacted quickly after the Riverside incident was reported and managed to arrest Stanford and Koloi while the third suspect managed to escape. They fired shots in the air to stop the trio from escaping and managed to arrest Stanford and Koloi. After some investigations were carried out that night, the doctor and other people who were at Area W clinic identified Stanford and Koloi as the culprits who had earlier on robbed the doctor,” one of the sources said.
The source continued: “The situation tramautised the doctor to the extent that he could no longer continue with his duties and was hospitalised following the incident”.
Stanford, the sources added, was sentenced to three stokes by Mopipi for disrespecting the court after he appeared for arraignment at the Francistown Magistrate’s Court following the incident.
“This happened following his arraignment before Mopipi whereby Stanford accused Mopipi of taking sides with the prosecution. Stanford told the court that the police tortured him after they arrested him but he refused to be taken to Area W clinic for medical attention to ascertain whether he was tortured or not. He then started banging the dock which did not go down well with the prosecution and magistrate who boldly told Stanford to behave to no avail hence the magistrate made an order that Stanford should be given some strokes for bringing the reputation the court into disrepute,” another source explained.
In April, furore erupted in social media after trade unions accused the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) of not doing enough to protect workers on night shifts at various 24 hours medical facilities around the country.
This followed an incident in which a nurse was raped at Extension 2 clinic in Gaborone while she was on duty at night on April 22, 2018.
“The Sunday incident clearly shows that security and safety of workers in general and shift workers specifically needs to be enhanced since working at night and in some instances alone exposes workers to greater risks such as the one in question,” said a press release from Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU).
Numerous efforts to contact the station commander of Tatitown police for more information were futile at the time of going to press.