The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Amuru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Security personnel on Tuesday arrested 48 people for allegedly terrorizing residents of Apaa township.
They were arrested by the police and the army during a crackdown following attacks on residents of the area.
The fourth division army spokesperson, Lt. Kato Ahmad Hassan says that the suspects were arrested from Aliwara village in Itirikwa sub county, Adjumani district as they tried to chase people from their land in Zoka village, Itirikwa sub county.
Hassan added that after thorough screening of the suspects, seventeen of them who are believed to be the ring leaders were handed over to Amuru police for further management.
He says that security has intensified deployments and patrols in the area to avert further attacks.
Gabriel Oyenga, a local leader in Lulai sub village where some of the suspects were arrested said that the people were arrested with bows and arrows, pangas, axes and hand hoes.
Oyenga says that residents are now living in fear of revenge attacks following the arrests. He adds that some residents have abandoned their homes and camped at Apaa trading centre which has a police post and next to an army detach.
Last week, the residents of Lulai, Oyanga, Goro, Kal Acut and Juka which are currently witnessing another wave of armed conflicts petitioned Robert Abeala, the Apaa army detachment commander demanding security protection.
The Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) Chairperson Anthony Akol also petitioned the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Anita Among seeking an intensified security deployment and patrol in the area. On Monday, an army detach was established in the disputed area.
In the new wave of violence, at least two people, Denis Olara and Anthony Ocaya were shot and injured with a bow and arrow by the suspected attackers in the area who were reportedly erecting makeshift structures in the area.
Apaa township is highly contested for by the Acholi of Amuru and Madi of Adjumani, over who has ancestral ownership over it.
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