URN.Such incidents have been reported along the Kampala-Gulu highway, especially at Migadde, Matugga and Kiryowa villages and the Kampala-Masaka road in the areas of Kyengera, Maya and Nsangi.
The Minister for Internal Affairs Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire has said that illegal roadblocks mounted by men in uniform are a bother to the authorities.
A number of robberies by gun-wielding men in the army or sometimes police uniforms have been reported in recent months from different parts of the country. Such incidents have been reported along the Kampala-Gulu highway, especially at Migadde, Matugga and Kiryowa villages and the Kampala-Masaka road in the areas of Kyengera, Maya and Nsangi.
Such cases have also been reported along the Kampala-Mityana-Mubende highway where robbers have erected roadblocks at Buloba and Myanzi. But the Minister says that the government is trying to establish whether these are isolated cases or the work of an organised gang.
“We heard about it. We do not know whether it is just ordinary crime or organised crime or something else. They are snap roadblocks. You can’t stop criminals from coming on the roads for 20 or 30 minutes,” Gen Otafiire said, adding that they are equally bothered that attackers were targeting police officers without a clear motive.
Otafiire added that he has instructed the Director of Crime Intelligence Brig Gen Chris Damulira and CID Director Tom Magambo to investigate and provide substantive information about the incident.
Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga said Buwama attackers disguised as men who were accompanying women carrying grass but abruptly pounced on counterterrorism officers deployed to guard the Equator. He added that, unlike Luweero where the machete-wielding attackers succeeded in taking two guns and killing one police officer, the officers in Buwama were alert and released a bullet that force the thugs to flee.
Enanga has identified officers who were attacked and injured in Buwama incident as Constables Lawrence Otim and Paul Nkolo. These are from counterterrorism guarding the Equator at Kayabwe, Buwama town council, Mpigi district.
