At least ten students at Comboni Comprehensive College in Adjumani Town Council, Adjumani District, are in police custody following a violent strike on Friday evening, November 14, 2025.
According to the police report, the students went on a rampage at around 7 pm, destroying school property, including breaking the perimeter wall fence and setting the school generator ablaze.
A security team comprising the Field Force Unit (FFU) responded to the incident after it was reported by the head teacher, George Yeka. However, by the time officers arrived, the students had already vacated the premises and dispersed into nearby villages.
Asea Collins, the Police spokesperson for the North West Nile region, said the suspects were arrested with support from Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) personnel.
“Following the incident, the students dispersed across the surrounding villages. Police, in collaboration with the army, managed to arrest ten students believed to have participated in the acts of hooliganism,” Asea said.
He added that the students are currently detained at Adjumani Central Police Station on charges of malicious damage to property.
“A case file for malicious damage to school property has been opened at Adjumani Police Station under reference number ADJ 678/2025,” he noted.
Preliminary findings indicate that the strike was triggered by a recent operation by school administrators to confiscate mobile phones from students as part of efforts to enforce school rules and regulations.
In his statement to police, head teacher George Yeka confirmed that the phone confiscation exercise had been conducted a few days before the unrest.
“A few days prior, school administrators conducted a search to confiscate mobile phones from students violating school rules,” Yeka said.
The incident comes just four months after two other schools in the sub-region, namely Itula Secondary School in Obongi District and St. Peter’s Secondary School, Aliba in Arua City, were closed following student strikes.
In recent years, the West Nile Sub-region has grappled with repeated student unrest, resulting in the destruction of school infrastructure and disruptions to learning.
Police and military personnel have since been deployed at Comboni Comprehensive College to maintain peace and order.
****URN***