The Greater Masaka Regional Police Spokesperson Muhammad Nsubuga has asked the public to avoid leaving break-in implements outside their homes to avoid being easy targets to machete-wielding goons.
He has also cautioned the public against leaving elderly persons at home alone because the recent pattern of killings in the region has affected the old and vulnerable persons.
Nusubuga says :” I also appeal to the general public that people of advanced age should not stay alone in the houses. what I have realized is a series of our crime patterns, they always target people who are in a lonely enviroment or those vulnerable in terms of age, so much as we are doing our best to uproot the gang behind this organized crime, the public, should be vigilant and not leave break-in implements outside , because these goons pick them from the kitchens.”
Nsubuga says police are working jointly with other security organs to curb crime and a total of to 39 have been netted.
Locals are living in panic each passing day as the goons continue to mercilessly slaughter those close to them with blunt objects.
In a space of fewer than 2 months,30 people have been pronounced dead despite heavy police and army deployment.
On Sunday, 2 more people were killed in two separate attacks, despite intensified security presence in the area.
One death occurred in Kitenga Cell, along the Nyendo-Villa Maria road in Nyendo Mukungwe division in Masaka while the other was in Kingo Sub-county of Lwengo district.
The deceased are identified as Maria Nakato, 78, a resident of Kitenga in Masaka, and Henry Kiremba, 81, a retired medical officer from Kyoko village, Kingo sub-county in Lwengo district.
The Criminal Investigations Directorate -CID has recently linked the gruesome killings to land conflicts, domestic violence, witchcraft, and isolated cases of robberies.
Army Intervention;
Last week, on Tuesday, Brigadier Deo Sande, the Commander of the Masaka Armoured Brigade, announced that they had launched joint operations with the police to hunt down the assailants.
He also mentioned that they received intelligence information about the criminal syndicate and are following various clues that may lead them to the killers.
According to Chimp reports, President Yoweri Museveni also the Commander in chief of the armed forces is directly working with his UPDF commanders in the greater Masaka region to manage the appalling situation.
Gen Museveni has reportedly directed his to use radio calls instead of mobile handsets and deploy at all corners of the region to nab the gangster killers.
Among the sources deployed in the greater Masaka include; Special Forces Command-SFC, Internal Security Organisation-ISO, Counterterrorism.
