By Violet Nabatanzi

Four more people were attacked by iron barwielding thugs during the New Year festivities.

The four victims, who survived with severe wounds on the head, were admitted at Mulago Hospital. Since last Saturday, the number of victims of iron bar attacks has risen to seven. 

Robert Kigozi, a bodaboda cyclist, was attacked and hit on the head at midnight by a man who posed as a passenger.

“A colleague called me and requested me to take one of his passengers. The passenger directed me where he was going, but when we reached his destination, he pretended  as if he was getting money from his wallet and instead pulled out an iron bar and hit me on head,” Kigozi said, adding that he had picked the man from Kamwokya.

The man took off with Kigozi’s motor cycle. Another victim, Umar Kateregga, was in serious condition at Mulago Hospital. The thugs who attack their victims with iron bars have been on rampage for several months.

The attacks escalated during the Christmas and New Year holidays. The thugs mainly target bodaboda riders and people who travel either very early or late at night in the city suburbs.