Robberies to increase during festive season, police warn – Newsday Zimbabwe

Bulawayo Provincial Spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube addressing businesses on current crime trends at a business lunch held by Peace Security at the city’s Selbourne Hotel on Wednesday.

BULAWAYO Police have warned of a potential rise in crime rates this festive season, citing a significant increase in armed robbery cases in October compared to the same period last year.

Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said this during a business lunch organized by Peace Security in Bulawayo on Wednesday.

“Last year in October, we only had two cases of armed robbery and this year, we received 13 cases in one month,” said Ncube.

“If we’re talking about armed robbery, we’re talking about where a firearm is involved.

“We do not define a robbery where a machete, knife or knobkerrie is used as armed robbery.”

Ncube said more than 10 cases of armed robbery recorded in October targeted service stations.

He said the police had recorded 80 cases of machete robbery, compared to 56 last year.

In October this year, thieves wielding AK-47 assault rifles hit the Ecobank branch in Bulawayo in broad daylight and made off with $4 million, the biggest heist in the country’s history.

The bank robbery was caught on camera.

The Safeguard van had just picked up the cash in metal boxes from the Ecobank branch in the NRZ building on the corner of Fife Street and 9th Avenue when men armed with AK47s quickly surrounded the truck and subdued the guards.

They also took some rifles from the security guards.

“We compared the statistics on criminal activities in October 2023 and October 2024 and what we noticed is that criminal behavior is not likely to change,” Ncube said.

“Last year, in the same period, we had 242 cases of assault and this time, we had 287. That means people have increased their fighting. Rapes involving adults last year, we had 14 in October and this year we have 13.”

He said the police registered 14 cases of rape of minors in October this year, compared to 12 in the same month in 2023.

He pointed out that some of these minors were as young as four years old.

Related topics