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Agago, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 1,000 youth and elderly men in Paimol Sub County, Agago district have formed a local vigilante group to fight off Karamojong cattle thieves in their area.
This follows the recent surge in cattle raids by suspected armed Karamojong thieves from Kotido District in the past four months in the villages of lubulu and kokil in tar and pacabul parishes respectively.
Paimol Sub County Chairperson George William Kilama says 20 men between the ages of 18 and 44 from 68 villages in the sub-county have become part of a strong vigilante group protecting cattle in their areas.
He notes that the men who are armed with bows, arrows and spears have helped defeat some of the attackers who attempted to steal their animals in the past one month.
Kilama says security provided by the vigilantes backed by the UPDF and Anti Stock Theft Unit police officers has seen a resumption of life stock keeping and crop production which were being abandoned over insecurity.
In a space of only one month, local vigilantes killed three suspected cattle thieves and foiled several attempted cattle raids in Paimol Sub County, saving more than 110 animals from being looted by the thugs.
He, however, notes that unmanned porous border points between Agago and Kotido districts remain a great challenge for the local vigilantes who are always surprised by the intrusion of the thugs who are armed with guns.
“We want the army to intensify their patrol and deployment along the porous border points to curtail the entry of the cattle thieves in our area, “He told Uganda Radio Network in an interview Tuesday.
Agago Resident District Commissioner Linos Ngompek says the local vigilantes are coordinating their security work with a team of Local Defense Unit personnel deployed in their area to ensure they stick to vigilantism but not a crime.
He notes that although they are helping to protect animals, the army and police are conducting overall frontline patrols to ensure the Karamojong cattle thieves are repulsed.
Despite the deployment of more than 700 strong LDU personnel along the porous borderlines of Agago with Karamoja recently, cattle raids orchestrated by suspected Karamojong warriors from Jie Tribe have escalated.
Some 150 cattle looted from Paimol Sub County between November last year to April this year by armed Karamojong thugs haven’t been recovered.
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