OTJIWARONGO, 03 MAR (NAMPA) – Nearly 30 residents of Otavi in the Otjozondjupa Region on Friday staged a peaceful demonstration calling for immediate action against alleged increasing drug abuse at the town.

The aggrieved residents, the majority of them parents, singled out cannabis, crack cocaine and alcohol as the substances destroying their family members and the futures of their children.

They held a march from the community hall to the Otavi Police Station, where they handed over a petition to the station commander, Chief Inspector Hendrina Amutenya.

In their petition, the residents demanded increased police visibility in residential areas, as well as the monitoring and arrests of all those dealing in drugs.

The community members stated that some houses at Otavi are known to be hubs of different drugs, but the suspects are allegedly roaming freely in town.

They also demanded regular street patrols, mostly over weekends when these activities spike.

The community members further called on the Namibian Police Fore to thoroughly investigate all criminal cases related to drug abuse which they opened at the Otavi Police Station in 2022 and 2023.

“There are also underage boys and girls who are normally hanging at bars, and this is unacceptable, we want to see all minor children barred from entering liquor outlets,” they said.

The community members threatened to take the law into their hands should NamPol fail them or fail to act on their petition.

Chief Inspector Amutenya received the petition and thanked them for staging a peaceful demonstration.

She further promised to forward their petition to the relevant NamPol offices at the headquarters in Otjiwarongo.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency