Armed thugs regroup in city
Jun 21, 2007
DANGEROUS thugs who have served their prison terms for armed robbery are regrouping, the Police have said.
By Chris Kiwawulo
DANGEROUS thugs who have served their prison terms for armed robbery are regrouping, the Police have said.
“Robbers who were arrested during Operation Wembley and released, are mobilising again. But we are on the ground,†warned David Magara, the commandant of the Violent Crime Crack Unit commandant, which replaced Wembley.
The crack unit has already netted 34 suspects who it paraded before journalists at its headquarters in Kireka yesterday.
Magara said the suspects were arrested in Kampala, Jinja, Kayunga, Mityana and Kibaale districts between June 15 and 20.
Ten guns, 194 bullets, a machete and an assortment of marijuana were recovered. The weapons included five pistols, two SAR rifles, two SMGs and a Uzi gun.
Magara said 29 of the suspects would face the Court Martial for armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms. The other five will be charged in a civil court over taking marijuana.
Among the suspects were Nicholas Wamimbi, a UPDF lieutenant attached to Kimaka Senior Officers’ Training College, and Frank Kironde, a soldier attached to the Presidential Guard Brigade.
Wamimbi was arrested in connection with a planned robbery on a fuel station in the city and Kironde over attempted armed robbery.
Magara said Kampala and Jinja suspects were found in possession of the Uzi gun, an SMG, two pistols, two loaded magazines and another 76 bullets.
Two other suspects, both former street children, were arrested on June 18, from Naguru in Nakawa Division where they had hidden an Israeli-made GAT pistol with 11 bullets in a toilet.
“We had to dig the toilet to recover the pistol,†said Nsubuga. He believes the suspects got the pistol after killing a CMI operative near Makerere University Business School on February 28.
Nsubuga said five other suspects were picked up from Kibaale where they had robbed cash and a phone from Nicholas Magezi, a businessman in Kagadi town. Magezi is a brother of another suspect, Friday Yofesi.
Yofesi confessed that he tipped his accomplices to attack his brother, who had just earned sh18m from the sale of produce.
In Kayunga, Simon Emojong was killed and a pistol recovered from his body.
A Police officer, only identified as Otim, attached to Kayunga Police Station, was also killed in the fire exchange, Nsubuga said.
He said the same pistol had been used to rob a motorcycle at Wandegeya on April 24 and sh8m from a Busia telephone booth in October 2006. “The pistol was also used to kill Martin Odwe, a security guard at Nile Resort, Jinja, last November,†Nsubuga added.
Meanwhile, the gun of the security guard killed in a robbery in Nateete on Tuesday, in which three other workers were shot dead, has been recovered.
Nsubuga asked petrol station proprietors to hire more guards to secure their money and workers.
DANGEROUS thugs who have served their prison terms for armed robbery are regrouping, the Police have said.
“Robbers who were arrested during Operation Wembley and released, are mobilising again. But we are on the ground,†warned David Magara, the commandant of the Violent Crime Crack Unit commandant, which replaced Wembley.
The crack unit has already netted 34 suspects who it paraded before journalists at its headquarters in Kireka yesterday.
Magara said the suspects were arrested in Kampala, Jinja, Kayunga, Mityana and Kibaale districts between June 15 and 20.
Ten guns, 194 bullets, a machete and an assortment of marijuana were recovered. The weapons included five pistols, two SAR rifles, two SMGs and a Uzi gun.
Magara said 29 of the suspects would face the Court Martial for armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms. The other five will be charged in a civil court over taking marijuana.
Among the suspects were Nicholas Wamimbi, a UPDF lieutenant attached to Kimaka Senior Officers’ Training College, and Frank Kironde, a soldier attached to the Presidential Guard Brigade.
Wamimbi was arrested in connection with a planned robbery on a fuel station in the city and Kironde over attempted armed robbery.
Magara said Kampala and Jinja suspects were found in possession of the Uzi gun, an SMG, two pistols, two loaded magazines and another 76 bullets.
Two other suspects, both former street children, were arrested on June 18, from Naguru in Nakawa Division where they had hidden an Israeli-made GAT pistol with 11 bullets in a toilet.
“We had to dig the toilet to recover the pistol,†said Nsubuga. He believes the suspects got the pistol after killing a CMI operative near Makerere University Business School on February 28.
Nsubuga said five other suspects were picked up from Kibaale where they had robbed cash and a phone from Nicholas Magezi, a businessman in Kagadi town. Magezi is a brother of another suspect, Friday Yofesi.
Yofesi confessed that he tipped his accomplices to attack his brother, who had just earned sh18m from the sale of produce.
In Kayunga, Simon Emojong was killed and a pistol recovered from his body.
A Police officer, only identified as Otim, attached to Kayunga Police Station, was also killed in the fire exchange, Nsubuga said.
He said the same pistol had been used to rob a motorcycle at Wandegeya on April 24 and sh8m from a Busia telephone booth in October 2006. “The pistol was also used to kill Martin Odwe, a security guard at Nile Resort, Jinja, last November,†Nsubuga added.
Meanwhile, the gun of the security guard killed in a robbery in Nateete on Tuesday, in which three other workers were shot dead, has been recovered.
Nsubuga asked petrol station proprietors to hire more guards to secure their money and workers.