Two top police bosses in Zombo district and two
of their juniors are in trouble for allegedly aiding the escape of a notorious
suspect from lawful custody.
A team of officers from Arua Central Police station picked up the acting Zombo District Police Commander,
Assistant Superintendent of Police-ASP, Joshua
Twongo, the Criminal Investigations Officer, Paul Wanjara, the In-Charge of case
files and another crime intelligence officer, both corporals over
the weekend on the orders of the West Nile Regional Police Commander, Enock
Baine.
According
to information from the police, the suspects picked up Dennis Ogenmungu, a notorious
robber from Arua Central Police Station following his arrest on a tipoff from
an informer.
Ogenmungu is on the police wanted list in Zombo
district.
Hudson Ochen, the West Nile Region Police Spokesperson, says that upon
picking the suspect, the four officers did not deliver him to Zombo where he is
needed for prosecution.
He says that when information reached the RDC, he
immediately rushed to Zombo three days after the release of the suspect to the
officers and ordered their arrest when they failed to explain his whereabouts.
// Cue in: “It’s true the acting DPC.…
Cue out:….they are here in our custody,”//
Andrew Kajoyingi, the Zombo Resident District
Commissioner has condemned the
the police officers for aiding the escape of the
suspect. According to the RDC, he escaped an attack by the same suspect in
Zombo two weeks ago when he and others raided an army detach in Zeu masquerading
as forest workers.
A UPDF soldier and five civilians including four Congolese
and one Ugandan lost their lives in the attack. Kajoyingi, who has pitched camp in Arua to
follow the disciplinary
hearing, says that the wanted suspect is a
member of a rebel group based in DR Congo.
He is wanted for robbing a gun from
a police officer and motorcycle at gunpoint.
By the time of filing this report, preparations
were underway to receive the Police Disciplinary Team from Kampala. Both the
police and army in Zombo have commenced investigations to establish the
whereabouts of the missing suspect.
Candia Stephen
Freelancer