The increasing incidents of robberies aided by guns and machetes have led to the arrest of 150 suspects in Mukono Municipality. Military and police jointly carried out operations in the various areas in Mukono Municipality, in which they arrested dozens of suspected criminals.
Mukono has experienced a series of gun and machete-aided robberies in the past three weeks. A mobile agent, Peter Ssekamate, was shot dead on Thursday morning.
The masked thugs armed with two guns combed Nabuta and Kirowooza villages on Thursday, targeting mobile money agents and wholesale traders.
Ssekamate, who operated a mobile money shop with his wife, tried to question the thugs, but they responded by shooting him in the head. They varnished with the money he had refused to hand over to them.
CP Richard Echega, the Kampala metropolitan police commander, has since rushed to Mukono and directed proactive operations targeting all suspected thugs so that the residents can have a crime-free Christmas period.
Echega said two guns are still in the hands of thugs who were operating in Kampala.“We are aware of the two guns still disturbing us. The thugs have used them to commit robberies. They robbed someone in Seeta. They robbed and killed the mobile money dealer. But we shall soon have them arrested,” Echega said.
Bernard Mugerwa, the Mukono Division police commander, promised the residents that the insecurity in the areas of Mukono will soon be minimized because of proactive arrests.
Mugerwa urged the locals to work with security so that swift information can be provided for swift response. However, the locals urged police to conduct an audit on the private security companies in the area, claiming that before they mushroomed, they had very few incidents of gun violence.
“We did not have many incidents of gun violence in Mukono before private security companies increased in this town. But we now have many guns, and almost on every road, you would find someone walking with a gun. Please conduct an audit on these guns,” one Mukasa tasked Echega.
Echega and Mugerwa urged Mukono residents and others in the different parts of Kampala metropolitan to be more vigilant and prioritise personal security as crime incidents tend to rise during the festive period.
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