Bulawayo armed robbers nabbed.

Four armed robbers were recently apprehended in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, after robbing a businessman of US$2,600 and escaping with his vehicle. The robbers were later found to have forged new registration numbers for the stolen vehicle to conceal their crime. The arrested individuals were identified as Shepard Samson Moyo (27) of Nkulumane, Peter Mare (28) of Waterford, Zenzo Muhambi (37) of Emganwini Bulawayo, and Bruce Ephraim Makara (29) of Tshabalala, Bulawayo.

Police Spokesperson

According to Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube, the incident occurred on March 11, 2023, at around 5:45 pm. The complainant, a male adult aged 52, was at his workplace in the Bulawayo CBD, accompanied by a colleague, when an unknown man wearing a face mask entered the office carrying an Okapi knife and pointed it at them. Two other masked individuals armed with a black pistol also entered the office, and one of them used the Okapi knife to prick the victims on their buttocks while demanding money.

The complainant handed over US$1,800, which was in the drawer of the office table. The robbers also took three cellphones, a Samsung J6 Plus, a small Itel, a G-Tel Infinity, and an Itel tablet, all valued at US$870. The robbers then assaulted the victims with open hands while demanding more money.

The robbers took the victims to a toilet at the back of the company shop where they kept some of the money, and the victims handed over US$800, which was in the sink. The robbers then forced the victims to lie down in the toilet and locked the door from the outside, taking all the shop padlocks with them. The victims eventually managed to escape by breaking open the toilet door with a chisel.

Captured on CCTV

The robbers fled the scene in a silver Honda Fit, which was captured on CCTV cameras. However, the police were able to recover the vehicle, which now had a different registration number, and arrest two of the robbers, Shepard Samson Moyo and Peter Mare, at a sports bar in Nkulumane. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of the used registration plates, a bunch of keys, a silver padlock, a cable tie, a black mask, a woolen hat, the clothes worn by the robbers during the offense, bolts, and nuts.

During their interrogation, the police discovered that the robbers had used a pellet gun instead of a real firearm, which was later found at their place of residence. Inspector Ncube added that Peter Mare had US$300 on him at the time of his arrest. The total value stolen during the robbery was US$2,600.

In light of this incident, Inspector Ncube urged the business community to avoid keeping large sums of money in their premises, as this puts them at risk of being robbed. He also appealed to anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Kuziva Japhet Mupunga, who is still at large, to report to any nearest police station.

Two Month Amnesty

It’s worth noting that in 2022, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a near two-month-long amnesty on all illegal firearm holders to voluntarily surrender their lethal weapons to their nearest police stations with no questions asked. This was after a spike in armed robberies and other offenses involving the illegal use of the weapons throughout the country. By the end of the amnesty, 538 guns had been surrendered to the authorities.