Kidnapped!

Nov 02, 2007

<b>MOST VICTIMS NEVER LIVE TO TELL THE STORY</b><br><br>Friday, July 20 is a day Amir Kyagulanyi, 17, will remember for a long time. He narrates the events of that day as precisely as if it were yesterday.

MOST VICTIMS NEVER LIVE TO TELL THE STORY

BY LYDIA NAMUBIRU

Friday, July 20 is a day Amir Kyagulanyi, 17, will remember for a long time. He narrates the events of that day as precisely as if it were yesterday.

Leaving home at Kyengera in Kampala at 6:00am, he took a taxi to the New Taxi Park. He took his usual shortcut through Kisenyi to his brother’s workshop, where he helps out as a motorcycle mechanic.

As he walked down the deserted passage, he met three men in shabby T-shirts and jeans. They looked well built. As he walked past them, one of them waved a handkerchief before his face. As the other two grabbed him, he felt his strength ebb and his consciousness slip. They dragged him to a white saloon car and the last thing he remembers was being thrown onto the back seat.

NARROW ESCAPE
He guessed it was around 1:00pm when four men dragged him from the car.

Before him was a posh house painted yellow with blue garage doors and a lush green compound. Still not in full control of his faculties, he turned to one of the men and desperately begged: “Please call my auntie and tell her that I do not know where I am or if I will ever go back to her.” He gave them the number.

The men dragged him into the house to a dark room littered with spears, knives and barkcloth. In the middle of the room was seated a fat, dark-skinned woman. She was well dressed but had a barkcloth shawl thrown over her clothes. Kyagulanyi was undressed, but on realising that he was circumcised, they released him.

The boy finally found his way home, where he found relatives weeping. Someone had phoned to say they would never see him again.

Unfortunately, most of the children who are kidnapped, are not as lucky because they never live to tell the story. According to the Annual Crime Report released in June this year, of the 230 children either abducted, stolen or kidnapped, only 44 were rescued.

STATISTICS
The report says: “Many crimes involving children were committed in 2006.

These included kidnap, child abduction and child stealing. The motives behind these cases are diverse. Some were for ritual sacrifice by witchdoctors, others for sexual exploitation and others for adoption. The number of cases were: child stealing (56), child abduction (108), child kidnap (14), child kidnap with intent to murder (4) and missing children (52 cases.)

Most of these cases occurred in Mityana (38), Katwe(27), Jinja (25), Masaka (18), Kira road(17), Tororo (15) and Masindi (14).”

However, it is not only children being kidnapped. Press reports show rampant kidnappings in Kampala especially among the downtown business community.

Patrick Iga, a Wandegeya businessman, was kidnapped on December 6 in Kibuli and held for seven days. He later found that his shop in Wandegeya had been broken into and robbed. He says he was in captivity with two Kampala businessmen and that three more were taken in on the day of his release.

Deo Kasekende, proprietor of Mikomago Enterprises on Ben Kiwanuka Street was kidnapped in July. His body was recovered in Lake Victoria by fishermen at the Ggaba landing site.

Derrick Mukulu, a producer for singers Ronald Mayinja and Mesarch Semakula was kidnapped for a week and abandoned in a forest in Masaka.

Oliver Mirembe Nantongo of Busega, who works with Mirembe Enterprises on Ben Kiwanuka street, has been kidnapped twice this year. She was in captivity with four young ladies who were released on the same day as she was.

Matia Lukoma of Nakawuka in Wakiso district was kidnapped from his home on September 15. His body was found in a stream in the same area.

Siraje Kiwanuka of Mannyangwa on Gayaza Road was kidnapped and later abandoned in the city.

Robert Senoga, 19, who disappeared on his way to a football match on Febraury 20, is still missing.

CID director Okoth Ochola says there is no increase in reported kidnap cases in recent months.

“In August, only 23 cases were reported countrywide while they reduced to 11 in September,” he says. Official police records for Kampala Extra show that six kidnaps and one abduction were reported in September, which is more than half of those Ochola says were reported countrywide.

*Motives
Sam Echaku, a former head of CID and executive director of Classic investigators, a private firm, attributes the new wave of kidnap cases to exposure to the west. “Ugandans are imitating crimes in the west. They learn from movies how to organise kidnappings. Exposure to the west through books, movies and others is giving rise to this new crop of crimes including organised kidnap.”

Some of the common reasons behind kidnapping, Echoku says, are: ritual sacrifice, discrediting the government and authorities and frustrating rivals or competitors especially in business. “Kidnapping of children is mainly for ritual sacrifice and ransom but for adults it is usually for reasons like business disputes. One businessperson may kidnap or organise the kidnap of a competitor to get rid of the competition,” says Echaku who has worked as a crime detective for 47 years.

“The Police, LCs and the wanaichi should work together to combat the crime. If it is identified that children in a particular area are being kidnapped for ritual sacrifice, the LCs should compile a list of all those who do witchcraft. CID officers must know all the ex-convicts in their areas. Criminals are specialists; a car robber is not a kidnapper so if you have a kidnapper in the area, he is the prime suspect when another kidnap takes place.”

*Psychological effects
The ordeal does not end with their release. Dr. frederick Kigozi, the director of Butabika Psychiatric hospital, says kidnap victims are likely to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.

“Depending on what takes place between the victim and the kidnapper and the character of the individual, the victim will show anxiety, shock, trembling, sweating, difficulty sleeping, emotional numbness, nightmares... some will even appear normal – abnormally normal as if nothing has happened.”

He says if the victim does not receive proper counselling, the effects may progress to depression, mania (i.e extreme restlessness), withdrawal, lack of concentration, hyper anxiety and violent nightmares or reliving the ordeal in their sleep.

These too, if not treated, may result into the long term effects which include reliving the experience while awake, especially when the victim is alone and physical pain like strong headaches, as well as rapid heartbeat.

These effects, if not treated, may even trigger a serious mental disorder characterised by hallucinations, hearing voices, severe depression and distortion of realities.

Kigozi says one can help the victim by lending a sympathetic ear. Do not tell them to forget it happened. He stresses: “Your contribution to the victim’s recovery is only first aid and he/she must see a counsellor, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.”


Protecting children
-Sacrifice time and money to
drop and pick your children
from school everyday.
-Advise your children to be
suspicious of strangers
-Restrict your children’s
movement. They should not
move out of the home
unaccompanied
-Take your children to schools
where they can be monitored
-Take trouble to know all your
children’s playmates and
where they live.
-Have meals together as a
family so you will quickly
notice when a child
disappears.
-Alert the children’s
caretakers not to trust
strangers.

How adults can avoid kidnap
Echaku says adults’ kidnaps are planned and in most cases take place at their workplace or on the way to or from work. He advises:
-Avoid using the same route
everyday, going home at the
same time and other routine
behaviour that may make it
easy for a kidnapper to way
lay you. For example, hooting
when you are at the gate.
-Do not stick to the same
pubs, supermarkets and
other social places.
-Avoid isolated routes. If you
must travel late, opt for
public means.
-Be suspicious of people who
frequently come to you with
mundane inquiries.
-Kidnappers usually come to
you with a suggestion as a
means of tricking you into
following them to isolated
places. Do not accept any
suggestions from strangers.
-Teach everyone you live and
work with to be vigilant
about security.
-If you have any reason to
think someone is following
you, inform the authorities

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});