Poachers shooting at security guards deployed in Etosha National Park will be killed.
This warning came from Oshikoto police commander commissioner Theopolina Kalompo-Nashikaku during a meeting with Oshana governor Elia Irimari at Oshakati yesterday.
The meeting focused on the fight against wildlife crime in and around Etosha National Park.
Kalompo-Nashikaku said when poachers see security officials patrolling in the park, they sometimes shoot at them.
This undermines security officials’ mandate, she said.
Security officials deployed in the country’s flagship park are members of the Namibian Defence Force, Namibian Police and Wildlife Protection Service of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism.
Together they are known as an anti-poaching unit.
“We will assist these people to return to their maker. Our lives are in danger. You can’t shoot at people who are trained to shoot,” she said.
Kalompo-Nashikaku said poaching is on the increase in the park.
According to her, 30 rhinos were killed from January to June, with 42 people being arrested in connection with the poaching.
The commissioner said none of those arrested are members of the anti-poaching unit.
However, she admitted that members of this group were arrested in connection with poaching in the park before her appointment.
Kalompo-Nashikaku said officials deployed in the park are screened and undergo a vetting process.
She said over 60 rhino horns were recovered.
“But we still have numbers that need to be confirmed.”
Kalompo-Nashikaku said 30 carcasses of poached rhinos were recovered.
The commissioner said some of the arrested individuals include people housing poachers, people who dropped poachers off when entering the park, those who have funded the poaching and those who have provided them with food.
She described poaching as well-organised crime.
Kalompo-Nashikaku was appointed as commander for Etosha National Park in March on a six-month basis.
She said the most disturbing incidents happen in the Oshana region.
Poachers seek refuge in the Ondangwa, Ongwediva and Oshakati regions when they return from Etosha, she said.
‘SPY ON THEM’
Speaking at the same event, Uukwiyuushona councillor Andreas Amundjindi accused members of the anti-poaching unit of conspiring with poachers.
He proposed that communication should be monitored on a weekly or monthly basis.
“How do poachers know where the rhino are or where the patrol team is? The officials are the ones informing the poachers,” he said.
Amundjindi, who is also a member of parliament, said members of the anti-poaching unit should not enter the park with their own phones.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism should provide them with phones that a commander could monitor, he said.
Also speaking at the same event, deputy director of Etosha National Park, Naambo Iipinge, said national resources should not be allowed to diminish.
Iipinge said the park contributes over N$40 million per year to the government and provides many people with employment.
“This money is used for the development of this country,” she said.
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