Two armed r0bbery suspects @ccused of disarming prison guards at Khami Prison near Bulawayo on March 21 and st3aling an AK47 rifle have been sh0t d3ad in police custody.
Never Moyo, 48, of Nkulumane 11 and Bhekimpilo Sibanda, 43, of Kezi “suddenly became vi0lent in a bid to disarm one of the police officers of his AK47” and were subsequently sh0t d3ad on April 26, police said.
The men had been booked out of Bulawayo Central Police Station for “indications” near Khami Dam where they had hidden two g+ns.
A third suspect, Jerry Arnold Gumbo, 48, of Maphisa, is in police custody.
The k!lling of the two men in police custody is the latest in a string of similar inc!dents which have led to @ccusations that police are summarily executing suspects. In all the !ncidents, police said they were protecting themselves and deny unlawful k!llings.
Police say at around 2AM on March 21, Moyo and Sibanda who were armed with a pistol and an electric sh0ck stun g+n crept up on prison guards at Khami Prison and r0bbed them of an AK47.
The men then allegedly went on a spree r0bbing shops and st3aling motor vehicles.
On March 23, Moyo and Sibanda allegedly str+ck at the Meat Company in Njube suburb and grabbed US$1,800 and R1,400 from the cash till.
On April 2, they boarded a Pumula-bound Honda Fit in Nkulumane before pulling out a g+n and allegedly robbing Udin Nyoni of the vehicle and US$60 in cash.
On the same day, staff at FMG Wholesale in central Bulawayo were allegedly accosted by Moyo and Sibanda who were armed with an AK47 and a pistol. The two men forced staff to open the cash till and emptied it of US$780.
A day later, on April 3, teacher Yedwa Ncube of Old Lobengula arrived home just after 8PM and parked in front of his house before going to open the gate. Moyo and Sibanda appeared from the darkness and produced g+ns before r0bbing him of his vehicle and two phones.
Three ill3gal foreign currency dealers at Nkulumane Complex – Siphilile Mabhena, Vusile Moyo and Mlungisi Sigauke – would be the next vict!ms. On April 4, Sibanda and Moyo allegedly approached them while armed with an AK47 and a pistol and demanded cash. The trio was r0bbed of R1,000, US$1,800 and US$1,400 respectively.
On April 18, Mlungisi Sigauke of Old Lobengula had just parked outside his house at 7PM when Moyo and Sibanda suddenly emerged and forced him to hand over his car keys for his unidentified vehicle at g+n point. The duo drove off at high speed.
Two days later, on April 20, Moyo and Sibanda allegedly stormed the Maphisa Post Office and ordered Enest Dube to open the safe at g+n point. They grabbed US$2,240 from the safe.
Police raided Moyo’s Nkulumane 11 residence on April 26 after a tip-off that he had a g+n. After he was detained, police recovered an AK47 rifle with eight rounds and a black pistol pellet g+n. Also recovered were two hand-held Bao-Feng communication radios.
Moyo, according to police, implicated Sibanda in all the r0bberies and the third suspect Gumbo in the Maphisa Post Office r0bbery only.
Sibanda and Gumbo were arre$ted at their rural homes without !ncident.
On April 26, Moyo and Sibanda led police to Khami Dam where they said they had hidden two g+ns. Police recovered an FN Browning pistol and a Taurus revolver.
“The @ccused persons suddenly became vi0lent in a bid to disarm one of the police officers of his AK47 rifle. They were subsequently sh0t by alert police details and sustained g+nsh0t w0unds to their backs. They were rushed to the United Bulawayo Hospitals where they di3d on admission,” a police report of the inc!dent said.
Moyo and Sibanda were both ex-convicts released from Khami Prison in 2022 and February 2024 respectively.
There have been demands for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to expedite the selection of commissioners to sit on the Independent Complaints Commission whose job is to investigate rights abuses by members of the security services.
Parliament has shortlisted 35 candidates to sit on the panel. Interviews were conducted on April 4 and names of the final nominees will be sent to Mnangagwa for appointment.
Prisoner rights activists say dozens of suspects have been k!lled in police custody after being taken for “indications” at crime scenes.
After Blessing Sumbani Sithole, a suspect in the February 25 r0bbery at Quest Financial Services in Harare was sh0t d3ad in police custody, national police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi maintained that “police fully subscribe to human rights tenets.”
“Suspects involved in criminal acts are implored to duly comply with police orders and avoid clashes or confrontation with arr3sting details,” he said.
SOURCE : HARARE LIVE
