According to Puwan, when his number failed to go through, he decided to surrender the keys to his chicken house to save his life. The warriors made off with 20 chickens. ‘’I just said it's better I lose chicken than my life because they gave me two options to either hand them the keys or they burn me inside the house, I couldn’t die because of chicken,’’ he said.
Tension is high among the
residents of Moroto municipality following attacks by suspected cattle rustlers
who have resorted to breaking into people’s homes asking for money and food. Joseph Puwan, a resident of Katanga ward, says
that the warriors attacked him on Friday last week around 10:00 pm.
He tried to
call the District Internal Security Officer-DISO sending the warriors in
prolonged as they assured him that no one would come to his rescue because they
are in charge of the government at night.
According to Puwan, when his number failed to go through, he
decided to surrender the keys to his chicken house to save his life. The warriors
made off with 20 chickens. ‘’I just said it's better I lose chicken than my
life because they gave me two options to either hand them the keys or they
burn me inside the house, I couldn’t die because of chicken,’’ he said.
John Lomutai, a resident of Acholi inn ward in the Northern
division, says that the warriors spend their day time socializing with the
community while surveilling the areas of interest.
‘’These warriors come when
they know you very well, they call you as if you are a good friend but should
they tell you to open the door and you refuse, the next thing you hear is a
bullet penetrating your door. They are serious in their attacks,’’ Lomutai said.
Paul Lokiru, a resident of Kambizi in the South
division blames the attacks on the laxity of security forces patrolling around town.
Lokiru wonders why the warriors are able to walk freely at night within the
municipality given the tight security and security CCTV systems.
He said in
most cases police always command people to enter their houses as earlier
8:00 pm pretending to be doing their work but after realizing that people are
indoors, they also disappear which creates a room for the criminals
//Cue in: “Maybe they always....
Cue out:…. gone to sleep they also go away,’’//
Michael Longole, the Mt. Moroto Region police
spokesperson confirmed the presence of warriors and house break-ins in Moroto
town. Longole noted that they recorded two attacks within the municipality each
night last week.
He said they have been putting more effort outside
town most especially where there are kraals thinking that the warriors were
only after cows.
//Cue in: ‘’All along we thought this person’’
Cue out:…..we have intensified our patrols,’’//
On Sunday evening, the joint security forces shot
dead a suspected cattle rustler who was trying to sneak into a bar with an SMG
rifle in Acholi inn trading Centre.
