Fifty-three family members in Aliba Ojepi B cell in Ayivu east constituency in Arua city are homeless following
the destruction of their house by an angry mob on witchcraft allegations.
The mob
members demolished 7
semi-permanent houses, 4 grass-thatched houses and killed 8 goats and 2 pigs among others. The residents accuse the family
of Nelson Alidri of practising witchcraft, which caused
the death of one person.
It is
alleged that the deceased who had mental health issues was taken to a prophet
who revealed that he was bewitched by Alidri. The revelation angered
residents who decided to gang up and destroy Alidri’s properties,
forcing 53 members of his extended family
to flee for their lives.
Alidri, who is
a teacher, says the locals led by
the LC1 chairman of Ojepi cell, Robert Avibo are jealous of his progress. He explains that he worked
in South Sudan for 9 years and was able to accumulate money that enabled him to construct his house that cost over Shillings 40 million.
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According to Alidri, his woes
started in 2016 when he returned from South Sudan and started development projects, which didn’t go down well with residents.
He says
that they started destroying his property with the latest incident on Sunday when the
locals uprooted the
pillars of one of the houses.
The area LC One Robert
Avibo, who
was arrested and released on police bond
following the latest attack declined
to comment and instead referred URN to
Arua central police
station.
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Arua Deputy Resident city Commissioner Dickson Adomati says plans are
underway
to organize a community dialogue in the area to
try and
resolve the matter.
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The displaced family members are
currently scattered across West Nile region.
William Mugisha
Freelancer