Amuka militiamen to hang over murder

May 05, 2009

GRIEF filled the High Court in Lira district when two former Amuka militiamen were sentenced to death by hanging for killing 10 internally displaced persons

GRIEF filled the High Court in Lira district when two former Amuka militiamen were sentenced to death by hanging for killing 10 internally displaced persons, report James Oloch and Alex Ocen.

The relatives of Alfred Odama and Simon Ojoga, who were attached to Ogwete Army Barracks in Olilim, Otuke sub-county in Lira shed tears when Justice Simon Byamukama sentenced them.

Their accomplices, Peter Okullo, was killed in Soroti district in 2005 by security forces while on the run. Rashid Okello, a shopkeeper at Ogwete displaced peoples camp, was freed due to lack of evidence.

The prosecution produced 10 witnesses during the two-week hearing. Byamukama argued that the accused misused their guns, which the Government had entrusted with them to protect people in the camps. “It is, therefore, the duty of this court to send a signal to others who have such intentions,” Byamukama ruled.

Court heard that on May 26, 2006, chaos erupted in the camp when a group of armed men went on rampage and started shooting indiscriminately at residents.

The Police later arrested Odama, Ojoga, Okullo and Okello, who had gone into hiding, on suspicion that they were involved in the shooting.

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