Abductors pluck out fingernails of Bwaise man

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ronald Ssegawa, a resident of Bishop Mukwaya in Bwaise I in Kawempe division is suffering from excruciating pain following torture by his abductors.

Unidentified people kidnapped Ssegawa near Avis Company along Tula road a fortnight ago. According to his family, they searched for Ssegawa in various places in vain until his abductors dumped him near city mortuary on Saturday.

“We received a phone call from a doctor because previously, we had searched in here and luckily we left the picture of the missing person plus our contacts. We were shocked by the situation under which we found my brother in intensive care,” said Frank Kyeyune.

Mortuary attendants and security guards found Ssegawa unconscious wrapped in a big sack and rushed him to the casualty ward where he was transferred from to intensive care to save his life.

A security guard at the city mortuary in Mulago who spoke to Uganda Radio Network-URN on condition of anonymity said plain-clothed people with masked faces driving a vehicle with a covered number plate dropped off Ssegawa at around 10:00 pm.

“We saw a car parked near the gate, two men opened the boot and dropped out something we saw as a polythene bag on the roadside. We could not go there first. The car that had no number plate sped off. When we checked, we found a person still alive,” said the security guard.

Ssegawa’s brother, Frank Kyeyune says his sibling was badly tortured to the extent of plucking out fingernails from his left hand.

Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson has advised the family to report a case to the police to facilitate investigations. “They need to open up the case at the police near them to enable the investigations in this matter of Ssegawa,” said Onyango.

Several people have been arrested and tortured since the November protests triggered by the arrest of the National Unity Platform presidential candidate, Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine. The abductors sometimes come dressed in plain clothes, military, counter-terrorism or joint anti-terrorism task force –JATT uniforms.

The abductors grab their victims from their homes, streets, markets, garages. Recently, Internal Affairs Minister Gen Jeje Odongo tasked the Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate –CID, Grace Akullo to probe the rampant abductions by suspected security personnel.

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URN