Online Reporter
Arron Nyamayaro
DESPITE police efforts to curb armed robberies in the Harare West constituency, thugs raided Mabelreign Girls High School and got away with at least US$500 yesterday.
Preliminary reports indicate that they attacked security guards at the school, leaving one of them in a critical condition.
This became the third school to be raided by armed robbers in Westgate, Mabelreign and Marlborough areas within a week.
In Good Hope, Westgate, the robbers attacked a school and orphanage home and escaped with more than US$30,000 while at Hallingbury Primary School, a security guard was killed during a similar attack.
Richard Chimbetete (50), director of Village of Hope Institution—which runs a school, an orphanage home, and a church—said three armed men ransacked offices belonging to the institution, including those of the bishop, social workers, the director, and finance, for nearly an hour before fleeing with cash.
The robbers were reported to have used a police-issued firearms during the attack.
At Marlborough High School, the robbers reportedly took US$28 after failing to access the safe, which they believed carried a substantial amount of money.
In yesterday’s incident at Mabelreign Girls High School, one guard was conducting perimeter checks when he encountered three men in the school yard. The men seized him and force-marched him to the administration block.
The attackers were armed with a hammer, torches, strands of wire, pliers, and crowbars. They tied the guard around his hands and legs using wire, then instructed him to lie down, and he complied.
The robbers then went to the SDC Block, where they located the other guard and struck him on the forehead with an unknown object, causing a deep cut.
They proceeded to the administration block, where they broke the main entrance door. Inside, they forced open the storeroom door, dismantled a safe containing less than US$500, loaded the safe into an unidentified vehicle, and drove away.
Senior police officers attended the scene, while police deployed additional officers in the area to step up security and investigations.
One community member, identified only as Edson, said residents are living in fear of the robbers and called on authorities to act decisively.
“We are living in fear of these robbers. If the Guruve murderer was apprehended by community members, we can do that as well, with the help of police officers deployed,” he said.
Edson also claimed that the community suspects that some of the schools targeted might be victims of own staffers who provide information to the robbers.
“Our suspicion is now on the schools targeted. They might be keeping large volumes of money because the robbers work with information from the targeted place,” he said.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi could not be reached for comment.
However, H-Metro is reliably informed that Commissioner Maxwell Chikunguru, the officer commanding Harare Province, is expected to lead an armed robbery awareness campaign today at Mabelreign Shopping Centre.
Mathew Masinge