How flying squad arrested child kidnapper in Isingiro

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The police flying squad has arrested a woman who kidnapped a four-year-old boy from Busabala, Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality, in Wakiso district.

Joel Asiimwe was kidnapped by Rita Robinah Nuwamanya, a person known to the family, for a yet unknown reason. She tasked the father Julius Asiimwe to pay a ransom of eight million shillings if he wanted to see the boy again.

Julius swiftly reported a case at Kibibi Police Station which also alerted its supervisory division of Katwe and a joint search was launched. However, the Flying Squad Unit team later established that the kidnapper was in transit and moving outside the Kampala Metropolitan area.

The mobile phone signals later disappeared and were again detected when the suspects had moved past Masaka City. Kampala Flying Squad Unit alerted their counterparts in Masaka but the signals could not be detected meaning the suspect was keeping the mobile phone on and off.

Kampala police teams quickly searched for Nuwamanya’s friends since the child’s father knew where she was staying. The search for Nuwamanya’s friends was intended to have people who could lead police to her home area since the movement was a clear indication that she was probably heading to her village home.

When Nuwamanya’s phone was again detected in Mbarara, Kampala and Masaka alerted their counterparts and it was later discovered that the phone signals had settled in Isingiro district. Police using the people who knew Nuwamanya’s parents’ home led the officers to her hideout and was found with the boy with no harm inflicted on him.

Nuwamanya has since been arrested and brought back to Kampala where she will be charged with charges of kidnap. Julius said she was shocked when she received a phone from a person he knew demanding a ransom to set his son free.

“I know Nuwamanya and she knows me very well. I don’t know what prompted her to kidnap my child. If she has issues with me which I might not know, she could have targeted me, not my child,” Julius said.

Luke Owoyesigyire, the Deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, confirmed Nuwamanya’s arrest and also thanked Julius for his swift response by informing the police force about the incident.

“Our Flying Squad managed to track down the suspects and arrested her in Isingiro. We want to thank our officers for the swift response and recovering the child. We encourage the members of the public to always report so fast and do not rush to give out their money to kidnappers,” Owoyesigyire said.

However, police have decided to interrogate both the suspect and the victim’s father.

Preliminary investigations point to an incident that Asiimwe’s father knows prompted Nuwamanya to kidnap the child as a revenge act.

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