Police Vows to Crackdown Arua-Nebbi Highway Thugs

ARUA. Police have promised to crackdown the notorious highway thugs targeting night buses and trucks along Arua-Nebbi road.

This follows numerous public complaints about the rate at which thugs have resorted to stealing people’s property from bus luggage booths especially at the bad spots of the road between Bondo and Kuluva in Arua district.

The victims of the thuggery are mainly bus passengers and at times, traders who transport their merchandise from Kampala to Arua on trucks.

Vincent Anjiku, one of the victims, has so far lost his luggage on a California bus twice; in August and last week.

Anjiku lost a sack of shoes, bags, dozens of boxers and football jerseys which he was intending to sell at Arua hawker in Arua city.

“The first loss cost me over shs6m and I also lost over shs8m in this recent incident. I have come to the police here because I need help to recover my items,” Anjiku said.

It is for this reason that Denis Ochama, the West Nile region police commander (RPC) promised to crack down on the thugs.

“We have been having a number of reports pertaining to robberies and stealing from moving motor vehicles especially in the wee hours of the night, mainly beginning from midnight to 4:00am. The occurrence has been that most of these trucks or buses that move at night have suffered that challenge,” Ochama explained.

He added that: “Good enough, one of the thugs has been arrested and led us to their store where a number of stolen things were recovered including items which were identified by the owners. So, they have given us some leads though it is still very early to preempt what we intend to do because if it goes out, some of them may hide.”

He said now that they have identified the key players in the theft that occurs at night, all of them are going to be arrested and taken to jail.

Ochama, however, expressed disappointment in the local leaders whom he said are not supporting police in identifying the suspects known to them.

“We have tried to use the local leadership but of course, we don’t get enough support from them. They seem not to be speaking the same language with us, they don’t want to reveal and yet they know the people who are in that area, who are known for that kind of business (night thuggery). When we tried to inquire one week ago, they were telling us that some of them had sold their homes and left, but to our dismay, we found out that some of them are still around,” Ochama remarked.

He noted that one of the thugs they arrested in connection with the night theft along the Arua-Nebbi highway is a resident of Ondurapaka in Ayivu Division, Arua city while others are within the city center in Arua Central Division.

“But we are still trying to trace most of them. Of course, with other security forces, we are trying to gather more leads and we intend to carry out some other operations that will lead to their arrest,” Ochama promised.

“We have also got information that some of these thugs go and dig the road just to slow down the moving vehicles. You will find that a pothole which is not a pothole per say but some pit is being dug, then stones are put on the side to direct the moving vehicles to one side where they normally take advantage of stealing people’s property,” Ochama added.

But Rashid Osino, the councilor representing Barzar Ward, also the Arua Central Division secretary for security, disagreed with Ochama on the involvement of local leaders to end the vice.

Osino, argued that police usually focus on consulting top political officers forgetting about the lower local leaders like the local council ones (LCs) and councilors from whose area the theft occurs.

“For example, the police have never consulted me on this matter, I’m just hearing it from you for the first time, they usually focus on consulting top leaders forgetting about some of us at the lower level. It is true, this highway robbery is occurring and most of these stolen goods end up here in town. There are local leaders like LCs and councilors where this theft is taking place, and I think, if they were to be consulted by police, they could help in apprehending these thugs because they know their people very well,” Osino said.

He suggested that the long-term solution to the thuggery is to establish an army barracks near Enjeva along Arua-Nebbi road as well as transferring the Arua district central police station from Odumi to that area.

Osino said by doing so, the thugs who are fond of digging holes on the road to slow down vehicles so as to steal people’s property will fear to go there.