Yumbe kids unearth bombs

Apr 01, 2011

THE Police and the army have unearthed a cache of military hardware in Yumbe and Koboko districts.

By Richard Drasimaku

THE Police and the army have unearthed a cache of military hardware in Yumbe and Koboko districts.

The deadly items included nine bombs recovered from Giwaya village, Kerua sub-county in Yumbe and two other bombs in Bulere village, Koboko district.

The West Nile Police spokesperson, Josephine Angucia, said the bombs were discovered by school children and a squirrel hunter.

It is suspected that a Sudanese soldier wanted to sell the bombs to scrap dealers in Yumbe in 2009, but residents shunned him.

He then left the ‘scrap’ at the home of the LC1 chairman, Simon Wani, who later dumped the bombs into a pit.

As the children played with the bombs, a Police officer recognised them and alerted security officials to remove them.

Meanwhile, in Koboko, a hunter identified as Zakari Onzima, 18, found two suspicious metals in a hole into which a squirrel had entered. He alerted the Police, who arrived with a team of army men to remove them.

Recently, 23 tortoise grenades, 11 anti-tank grenades, 27 anti-personnel mines and four bombs were also recovered in West Nile, most of them spotted by children. “The residents of Yumbe, Koboko, and Moyo should remain vigilant. We expect to find more bombs,” Angucia said.

These areas were a corridor for defunct guerilla factions, who are suspected to have buried their arsenals underground during their rebel activities.

Angucia advised parents to keep children out of scrap business to avoid tragic incidents such as that in Moyo last month, in which four children were blown up.


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