Gulu family demands justice after son dies in Police custody

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On the night of February 15, 2026, in Pece Cube A and B cell, Tegwana South, Laroo-Pece Division in Gulu city, a baby’s cry sent two brothers out into the darkness.

Ben Ojok Ojara, 37, had been at home when a child began wailing for food. At around 9:00pm, he stepped out with his younger brother, 22-year-old Patrick Okello, to buy fast food from Layibi Centre, a short walk away.

It was an ordinary errand in the quiet neighbourhood — one that, according to his family, should have ended with the simple comfort of a meal.

Instead, it ended in death.

A patrol in the night

After buying food and sauce, the brothers were walking home when they encountered a patrol of about 40 special Police constables near the BRAC office, just a stone’s throw away from their residence. Some officers carried batons; a few had guns.

“They arrested us and mixed us with eight other people they had previously detained,” Okello recalled.

“We were ordered to hold each other’s waists and marched in single file to the home of Mutesa.”

Okello alleges that they were beaten along the way.

Later, the group was transferred to Gulu Central Police Station by Peter Banya, the deputy Resident City Commissioner for Laroo-Pece Division. By the time they arrived at the station, Okello said, they were shaken but still in relatively stable condition.

At the station, the detainees were screened and separated. Okello was placed with younger suspects; Ojara was taken to the adult cell.

That was the last time the brothers would share a conversation.

A family’s struggle to reach him

The family says they were informed of Ojara’s arrest the following day (February 16), at about 5:00pm. By then, it was too late to visit.

The next day, his elder brother, Jacob Olanya, went to the Police station with food: Silverfish and posho, hoping to see both detained brothers. But the cell guard reportedly demanded shillings 2,000 per suspect to allow them out for the visit.

Olanya had two brothers inside and was asked for shillings 4,000. He did not have it. After pleading, the officer allegedly accepted shillings 2,000 for both.

When they finally saw them, both men appeared to be in good health.

Police told the family the suspects would be taken to court on February 18. The family requested a Police bond, insisting the brothers were not criminals and had only left home to buy food for a baby. They were told the court would decide.

But court day never came for Ojara.

A call from the hospital

On Wednesday morning, as relatives prepared for the expected court appearance, they received alarming news. Their brother, Joe Komakech, called to say Ojara was in the emergency ward at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.

When they arrived, they found him in bed number two. Medical personnel were not immediately present; staff were reportedly in a meeting. They learned that Police had brought Ojara and four other detainees to the hospital at about 8:00pm the previous night.

One of the young men had died on arrival. Ojara and two others were in critical condition.

The family says it was then that they were told Ojara had been beaten in custody. Hospital staff reportedly informed them he had suffered a severe head injury, a broken collarbone, and damage to his right eye — injuries allegedly described by the officers who transported him.

At 11:59am, surrounded by his parents and siblings, Ben Ojok Ojara passed on.

His body was moved to the hospital mortuary. Though a postmortem was conducted on Saturday, the family says they have yet to receive the official report.

Ojara was buried at the family home in Pece Cube A and B, the same neighbourhood from which he had walked out days earlier to buy food.

Conflicting accounts

After the burial, Peter Banya visited the grieving family and assured them that investigations would be conducted. He emphasised that Ojara was not a criminal and said he knew the family personally.

Aswa West Police region spokesperson David Ongom Mudong offered a different account.

He said that, according to a statement from another detainee, the injured men had been hitting their heads against the wall and behaving as though possessed or intoxicated. They were later removed from the cell and taken to the hospital by a guard, but two succumbed to their injuries.

Mudong acknowledged that Police cells are insecure environments and can house individuals with different backgrounds, sometimes leading to violence among inmates.

He left for food

For Ojara’s family, the explanations do little to dull the grief or the questions.

They insist he was arrested without committing a crime and held beyond the mandatory 48-hour period without being produced in court. They struggle to reconcile the healthy man they saw on Tuesday afternoon with the broken body in the hospital bed several hours later.

Now, the family waits for the postmortem report, the outcome of the promised investigations, and accountability. They are demanding an explanation and compensation for the loss of their son, brother and provider.