IGANGA – The Police in Busoga East have arrested a 19- year-old boy for assembling explosives.
The suspect whose identities have been withheld was transferred to the CID headquarters at Kibuli –Kampala.
The police said it had partnered with other security organs in order to arrest the suspect, believed to be a member of the Allied Democratic Forces -ADF rebel group. The suspect was picked from Busei A village, Nakalama sub County in Iganga district on Monday.
The suspect is a male juvenile between 15 to 20 years of age.
The Busoga East Regional Police Commander – RPC, Samuel Asiimwe confirmed the report in a statement.
During the operation, police recovered petrol, wires, steel bars, and unspecified metals, which he was using to manufacture explosives.
They also recovered radio calls suspected to have been stolen from police posts in different parts of the country.
Samuel Asiimwe, the Busoga East Police Commander, said that the suspect and others still at large had masterminded the attacks on police installations across the country.
A police officer who preferred anonymity but is privy to the investigations said that the suspect confessed to have joined the Allied Democratic Force -ADF rebels in 2018.
The source added that the suspect acquired skills in assembling explosives while in the Democratic Republic of Congo -DRC before he was deployed back home to recruit other juveniles.
“The joint security team of Busoga East together with manpower from Kampala were able to arrest a man suspected to be a member of the ADF rebel group,” said Asiimwe.
According to Asiimwe; “after arresting the suspect, a search was conducted in the house where he was residing and an assortment of exhibits that are related to bomb making materials were recovered including small cut particles of iron bars and some wires.”
Residents who responded at first place narrated that the suspect was brought at the scene in a vehicle by security team before conducting a search in his rented room where bomb assembling items were recovered among other things.
Among the items recovered included small sized piece of iron bars, which were in sacks, metallic boxes in which bombs are assembled, some wires, radio calls and others.
Preliminary investigations from police indicate that the suspect is linked to a number of terrorism incidents that have been happening across the country, especially attacks on police installations, private security organisations where a number of guns have been stolen and some lives lost.
However, sources revealed that the suspect was attached to one of the armed groups that attacked one of the police stations in central Uganda – and had allegedly confessed to killing a police officer by shooting him twice in the chest.
After interrogations, the police rescue team carried out a search in a pit latrine where an exhibit of a motorcycle number plate was recovered. The number plate, which was wrapped in a cloth resembling UPDF uniform, was half piece and security couldn’t identify the other figures.
The chairperson Busei A village Ismael Waiswa said he was summoned at around 9:00am for an operation at the suspect’s rental of Timothy Taligola – a UPDF soldier. It is said that security operatives had been in the area for at least two weeks – monitoring the movement of then same man.
“Recently – security operatives came to my place with photos on their phone asking if we knew the person. We didn’t know him – and it was my first time to see him,” said Waiswa.
Charity Namilimo – a resident in the area said that there was a need for local leaders to be vigilant in order to fight acts, which may cause bloodshed in their areas.
Said Miyingo, the Defence Secretary of Busei A Village blamed the area landlords, who were reluctant in registering new tenants.
