Walvis Bay experiences a surge in violence and criminal activity – NCCI Walvis Bay

The NCCI Walvis Bay this week called upon the community, law enforcement agencies and community policing groups to shoulder its responsibilities to collectively combat crime and violence in the harbour town.

The statement follows in the wake of the murder recently of Mr. Hans Jörg Mölller, a well-known local businessman who was gunned down during an armed robbery at his home in the harbour town’s lagoon area. In the same incident, the late Mr Möller’s wife, Mrs Carol-Anne Möller, was so seriously assaulted that the suspects, of whom four are now behind bars, face charges of attempted murder.
“The escalation of violence and crimes plaguing our beloved town today is totally unacceptable and we condemn in the strongest terms this hideous incident and other crimes against innocent residents”, the Chairman of the NCCI Walvis Bay Mr. Johnny Johnson Doeseb said in the statement yesterday.
In expressing condolences to the late Mr Möller’s family, Mr Doeseb also called on residents to be vigilant against all forms of criminality. Mr Doeseb also urged residents to be careful in how they approach criminals and to take their safety and state of security at residences and businesses serious.
The Möller family was attacked by a gang of six men at around 01:20 in their home in Paul Vincent Street last Friday. Mrs Möller faced the intruders first. She was badly beaten and all the time the men demanded cash.
Mr Möller, who was asleep at the time, was woken by his wife’s screams. Mr Möller rushed to his wife’s defense, but was gunned down by one of the assailants.
As Mr Möller was laying bleeding on the floor, only meters away from where the couple’s two young daughters were in their room, the assailants continued their assault on Mrs Möller and kept on demanding more money. They tied her up with shoelaces and fled.
Mrs Möller managed to untie herself and managed to phone her mother who notified the police and emergency services. Mr. Möller lost a lot of blood and sustained internal injuries. He passed away in the intensive care unit of the Cottage Mediclinic at Swakopmund at 15:00 on Saturday.
Expert police officials managed to arrest the alleged shooter, 30-year old Gottlieb Panduleni, at Oshakati. Three more arrests followed this week in Windhoek. Panduleni and co-accused already made a first appearance in the Walvis Bay magistrate’s court on murder, attempted murder and armed robbery charges. They remain in custody.
In the meantime, social media has exposed several incidents in Walvis Bay in recent days of burglaries and at least one more house invasion during which a resident was assaulted. This substantiates the NCCI Walvis Bay’s claim that crime and violence escalated lately.