Man who murdered three children in Kyankwanzi killed by mob

The man who is suspected to have run amok and hacked at least 11 people, leaving three of them dead in Kyankwanzi district has been killed by irate residents.

The Police in Kyankwanzi together with residents launched a hunt for Emmanuel Twagirayezu after he attacked several people and hacked them using a machete.

According to The Police, Twagirayezu committed the murders using a machete at around 10:00 am on June 30 at Kagarama village, Butemba town council in Kyankwanzi district.

The suspect is reported to have hacked to death three children, who included: Joel Tayebwa, 4, Nora Nakisindi, 3, and a 9-month-old toddler identified as Joel Ninsiima.

The Police said Twagirayezu, who was a Rwandan national according to details gathered from Kagarama village local council officials, had unfortunately been killed by a mob.

"The suspect in the murder of the three children in Kyankwanzi, a one Twagirayezu, has been arrested by the community, but unfortunately they took the law in their hands and killed him," a statement from the Police said. The Police urged the public to desist from mob justice, as it is an offence.

Earlier in a statement, the spokesperson of Police's Criminal Investigations Directorate, Charles Mansio Twine, noted that Twagirayezu went to Kyankwanzi and hired land from a resident identified as Kalfred Mushabe to grow maize.

Twine said eight more people sustained serious injuries and that some of them have been admitted to Butemba Health Centre III, while others were referred to Hoima Hospital for treatment.

Twagirayezu set up a makeshift structure on the land he hired from Mushabe where he was cultivating maize. Unfortunately, one of the children killed (Tayebwa) belonged to the landlord.

"Twagirayezu first cut a baby identified as Joel Tayebwa before he proceeded to another home of workers at a maize planation and threatened to cut the women he found working there. The women ran away, but Twagirayezu unfortunately chopped dead two more children namely," Twine said.

He said a team of Police officers responded to the incident following a phone call from one of the residents who informed the cops that Twagirayezu was attacking residents with a machete without any known reason.

He added that residents made an alarm and Twagirayezu disappeared into a large maize plantation where the Police and the community were by press time still pursuing him.

According to the Police, residents were puzzled by Twagirayezu's gruesome actions, arguing that there was no known conflict between him and the families of the deceased children. "Twagirayezu was also not known to have a background of mental illness," Twine said.

Postmortems were carried out on the bodies of the deceased children by medics who visited the crime scene, before handing them to their respective families for burial.

The Police extended its heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased children at the time and pledged to pursue Twagirayezu and arraign him before court for prosecution.

This incident happened hardly a year after a similar one happened in Kakumiro district. In August last year, Kakumiro Police arrested Leo Tumwesigye after he allegedly hacked his two sons to death.

Tumwesigye, a resident of Mizimu village in Kasambya sub-county, Kakumiro district, killed Matthias Mwesigwa, 3, and 9-month-old, Yeremiah Niwamanya, using a machete.

According to the Police, the murders happened after Tumwesigye picked a quarrel with his wife, Sharon Ninsiima, the previous night. The wife fled the home leaving behind their two children.