IGANGA, UGANDA: The police in Busoga East working hand in hand with security operatives from Kampala arrested a suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel in Buseyi A village, Nakalama sub-county in Iganga district.
The suspect whose identity was vividly concealed by police for security reasons was arrested on Monday, January 02, 2022, in a joint operation carried out by security organs in the district. The suspect is a male juvenile between 15 to 20 years of age.
“The joint security team of Busoga East together with manpower from Kampala were able to arrest a man suspected to be a member of ADF rebel group,” ASP Asiimwe said.
Asiimwe Samuel the Busoga East Regional Police Commander(RPC) SSP confirmed the report in a police statement on Monday evening.
The Busoga RPC adds, “after arresting the suspect, a search was conducted in the house where he was residing and an assortment of exhibits that are related to bomb-making was recovered including small cut particles of iron bars, some wires, and other bomb-making materials.”
According to the residents who responded in the first place says that the suspect was brought to the scene in a vehicle by a security team before conducting a search in his rented room where bomb assembling items were recovered among other things.
Among the items recovered included small-sized pieces of iron bars which were in sacks, some wires, metallic boxes in which bombs are assembled, radio calls, and others.
Currently, investigations from police indicate that this suspect is linked to a number of terrorism incidents that have been happening across the country especially attacks police installations and private security organizations where a number of guns have been stolen and some lives lost.
However, Brayz Media has learned from anonymous sources that the suspect was one of the armed groups that attacked one of the police stations in central Uganda and he confessed to killing a police officer by shooting him twice in the chest. This was during an early interrogation conducted on Monday morning during the search exercise conducted.
After the interrogations, the police rescue team was engaged to enter a pit latrine where an exhibit of a motorcycle number plate was found. The number plate found in the pit was wrapped in a cloth resembling a UPDF uniform, was a half piece and security couldn’t recognize other figures.
Security personnel reportedly transported the suspect to Kampala after searching the area and gathering evidence-worthy materials. He was however brought along with a few other individuals to aid the authorities in their inquiries.
The chairperson Buseyi A village Mr. Waiswa Ismael says he was called at around 9 am for an operation. He says that the suspect was renting the house of Taligola Timothy, a UPDF soldier. It is reported that some security operatives were in the area two weeks ago while hunting for the said suspect.
“I was called at around 9 am before the operation at the house of Taligola Timothy. But recently like two weeks ago, security operatives came to my place with photos on their phones asking if we knew the person in the photos. We didn’t know him and I personally don’t know him, it’s my first time to see him,” Mr. Waiswa said.
Ms. Namilimo Charity, another resident says that there is a need for LC1 chairpersons to have an eye for their villages and fight acts that may cause bloodshed in their areas and other areas nearby. She went ahead and commended the government of Uganda for always arresting the bad elements in the society.
Muyingo Sayid, a member of LC1 executive says that “it’s very unfortunate that some landlords are keeping tenants even without presenting any identification document like National Id or Passport which can prove if they are good people. We have tried to request identification documents from tenants but our efforts are being let down by landlords.”
Meanwhile, RPC Asiimwe said that thorough investigations are ongoing before advising the general public to always be vigilant and report any suspected person to their nearest police station. He concluded by advising all landlords in those areas to introduce their tenants to relevant authorities for record keeping and follow-up just in case anything happens in the future.
About the arrested suspect, we will keep you posted here.
