Sep 14, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Latest reports from the Ugandan capital, Kampala, confirmed that at least 26 people have been arrested in connection with the recent fighting that killed 8 refugees in Rhino Refugees Camp.
The Ugandan police authorities believe that the fighting between the host community and the refugees was triggered by an attack on one local resident, who was attacked by the refugees for grazing his cattle in the Rhino camp.
“A young boy from the host community was grazing, a group of refugee boys assaulted him seriously and he was rushed to the nearby health center. However, the information that reached his relatives was that he had passed on.” Said West Nile region police spokesperson Josephine Angucia who spoke to Radio Tamazuj on Monday.
According to the police spokesperson, the relatives of the victim mobilized the host community to attack the refugees in revenge leading to the killing of eight refugees in total.
“So, the relatives mobilized themselves and went to revenge on the refugees hence killing seven of them on the spot, the eighth one died at the hospital,” Josephine Angucia, the Spokesperson explained.
In response, the West Nile Regional Police arrested at least 26 people that are currently held at the headquarters in Arua to aid investigation.
“About 26 people were arrested to assist the police with investigations into this matter. The 26 are detained at West Nile Regional Police headquarters in Arua. As I speak investigations are ongoing, the suspects are being interrogated,” Angucia said.
According to Josephine, a police force is still on site to restore calm and ensure that confidence is re-built between the host community and the refugees.
“Our officers are still being maintained at the scene, they are still combing the bushes to see if there could be some other people injured and hiding in the bushes.” The Police spokeswoman said.
Speaking on behalf of the local police forces, the spokesperson blames both sides for taking law into their own hands reiterating that such matters should be reported directly to the local police or to local leaders who are tasked to handle such matters.
“They should report such issues to the authorities nearby. Maybe to the local leaders who will be ready to help them. The nearby police post is ready to receive such complaints. They both erred by taking the law into their hands to act physically on their aggressors or assumed enemies,” The Spokesperson added.
While the boy, who was allegedly attacked is being treated at a nearby hospital, the bodies of the eight refugees who were killed on Friday were referred to Arua Referral hospital for forensic purposes and postmortem.
