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Bulawayo Bureau

ONE of the two Bulawayo prophets who reportedly strangled a police officer in a bushy area near Khami Dam and robbed him of a car, $200, a laptop and two smart phones, has claimed the cop gave him the property as a token of appreciation for cleansing his two haunted houses. Patrick Matikiti (26) of Sauerstown and Assurance Moyo (23) of Lobengula West allegedly took Nhlalo Ndlovu to the bush to “cleanse him of evil spirits” where they killed and robbed him of a Toshiba laptop, a G-Tel and Huawei cellphones and his car, a Toyota Noah which they later sold in Harare in December 2014.

The duo on Thursday appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Francis Bere. Matikiti took to the witness stand and told the court that he knew nothing about the alleged murder.

“I know nothing about the charge. I was surprised when police arrested me and accused me of killing the now deceased who was my client,” said Matikiti.

“In fact, the last time I saw him (Ndlovu) was on the day he gave me his car, cellphones and laptop as appreciation for fixing his two houses in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

“The houses were being haunted by his late wife and I managed to cleanse them of the evil spirits,” he said. Matikiti also accused police of forcing him together with Moyo to the scene of the alleged crime amid threats to shoot them if they resisted.

“Police officers took us to a bushy area near Khami Dam and forced us to point out a spot where they alleged that we killed the deceased and robbed him of his car, money and other valuables,” he said.

Matikiti said Ndlovu confided in him that he was secretly going to South Africa to look for his child.

“Ndlovu was a man of many girlfriends and was very secretive in everything that he did. He didn’t even tell his family and relatives that he was going to South Africa when he disappeared and I had to keep it as a secret,” he said.

Ms Hloniphani Buhwa, who was Ndlovu’s girlfriend, told the court that when she contacted Matikiti about her boyfriend’s whereabouts, he claimed that he was taken by a mermaid.

She said he also claimed that the spirits revealed to him that Ndlovu was alive. The duo’s arrest was based on strong suspicion following a report by relatives that Ndlovu was last seen when he visited Matikiti’s home for consultation.

The accused persons’ witnesses will testify today.