National

Robbers who on Tuesday night broke into a computer laboratory at a local school, La Colombiere, and stole 16 computers worth Rwf5.3 million, have been arrested.

Five people suspected to be behind the burglary have so far been arrested. They include two guards.

The suspects, who are currently held at Remera Police Station, are Theoneste Nizeyimana, 23, the brain behind the burglary, Eric Kaneza 26, Emmanuel Nshyimiyimana, Jean Pierre Munzege, 40, and Augustin Nzaragira, 43.

They were picked from Kigali in an operation carried out Wednesday night after a tip-off from one of the suspects, Nshyimiyimana, who is said to have fallen out with the group after some misunderstandings.

Also recovered were 16 monitors, 11 Central Processing Units (CPU) and 11 keyboards, as the search for other stolen goods continues. They were recovered from Kaneza’s house in Batsinda, in Gasabo District.

Munzege and Nzaragira are guards who work for Gar-Sec, a private security company, and were on duty that night.  

Nshyimiyimana, a motorcycle taxi operator in Remera, who denied being part of the gang, told journalists that he saw people “loading things on motorcycles in the middle of the night.”

“I suspected it could be things being stolen and I followed them to see where they were taking them. I later notified authorities in the area,” said Nshyimiyimana.

However, it is said that Nshyimiyimana reported the matter to police after falling out with the group following disagreements on equal sharing of the stolen equipment.

Augustin Nyirinkwaya, the Director of Studies at the Kacyiru-based popular school, said that in the morning, they found the doors of the computer laboratory broken and some computers missing.

“When we asked the guards, they said they had not realized it, but we suspect they connived with the group to break into the laboratory,” Nyirinkwaya explained.

Contact email: bosco.asiimwe[at]newtimes.co.rw