The Masaka Catholic Diocese has petitioned the Masaka High Court, seeking the immediate and unconditional release of one of its priests who has been missing for over a week.
Reverend Father Deusdedit Ssekabira, the former Masaka Diocesan Youth Chaplain and currently an assistant priest at Bumangi Parish in Kalangala District, reportedly disappeared after he was allegedly abducted by security operatives under unclear circumstances.
Through their lawyer, Alexander Lule Nkima, the Diocese filed an application seeking a court order compelling state security agencies—believed to be the only suspected captors—to produce Father Ssekabira before the court, in whatever condition he may be.
According to Lule, eyewitnesses indicated that Father Ssekabira was arrested by armed men dressed in Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) uniforms.
The soldiers allegedly picked him up from his office in Katwe Ward, Masaka City, last Wednesday before driving away with him. Since then, Father Ssekabira’s whereabouts have remained unknown to both his relatives and colleagues.
Lule explained that after unsuccessfully tracing the priest through several detention centres, the Diocese resolved to file for a writ of Habeas Corpus, asking the court to compel the state to account for him.
The Bishop of Masaka Diocese, the Right Reverend Serverus Jjumba, in a public statement issued on Saturday from Our Lady of Sorrows Cathedral in Kitovu, Masaka City, declared three days of special prayers dedicated to the missing priest. He also appealed to state security agencies to release him.
Bishop Jjumba noted that the Diocese is deeply distressed by the incident, saying it has revived painful memories of the 1970s, when priests and other prominent individuals in the region disappeared under similar circumstances, some never to be seen again.
The UPDF, whose officers are accused of abducting the priest, has remained silent on the matter. Lieutenant Teddy Anena, the Kasijjagirwa UPDF Armoured Division spokesperson, declined to comment when contacted.
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