Security agencies in Koboko district are investigating and hunting for a group of suspected SPLA rebels who invaded and attacked Busia village near the Koboko border with South Sudan on Thursday.
The suspected rebels, numbering over 20 and fully armed, first laid an ambush at a nearby village before moving into Mungujai village, where they abducted one Louis Hamis, a driver operating in Busia trading centre.
The rebels later split into three other groups, one of which moved to the home of Richard Kepo Apatu, a produce dealer operating and resident in Busia, where they robbed 18 million Shillings before firing bullets as they made off towards the South Sudan border, crossing the river Kaya.
Apatu narrated that two of the rebels, armed and dressed in black uniforms, ordered him to give them money before shooting several bullets in the house.
Johnston Agele, the LCIII Chairman of Kuluba Sub County, told the residents who gathered at Kepo’s home on Friday that they suspect the armed men to be hailing from South Sudan.
Major John Peter Okori, the second in command 71st Infant Battalion based in Busia, while addressing the locals on Friday, called for security vigilance and assured them that the army will track the armed suspects.
According to eyewitnesses, more than 20 armed rebels crossed into Uganda during the day and hid in the nearby bush until darkness before executing their mission