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Tororo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Using the modern Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS), the Uganda Revenue Authority’s security team on Friday rescued a fuel truck that had been hijacked by robbers.
According to a statement from URA, their Mbale enforcement team foiled the robbery of the fuel truck that was in transit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This was in the wee hours of Friday following a tip-off that unknown armed assailants had hijacked the fuel truck, Reg Number KCB022G.
It is reported that the truck driver and turn-boy were put on gun point at about 1:00am just after Malaba and later thrown out of the truck around Busiu, along Mbale – Tororo Road. They had both their feet and hands tied together in ‘kandooya’ style.
The turn-boy however bit the ropes to set them free, according to the URA statement. He and the driver then sought the help of Nakaloke area leaders who helped them report the incident to URA.
Upon receiving the report, URA’s statement says the enforcement team immediately contacted the Transit Monitoring Unit which mans the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) for a live location of the truck. A team of security personnel was constituted to move in and rescue the cargo.
The URA Transit Monitoring Unit using the (RECTS) located the fuel truck at Nakaloke, along Mbale – Soroti Road, about 50 kilometers from where it was hijacked and notified the rescue team about this location. The team moved to the location immediately.
According to the URA statement, their team intercepted the fuel truck, in a very dark spot, as the assailants were siphoning fuel. The assailants scampered for their lives and scattered into the surrounding bushes when they suddenly saw the enforcement team approaching, leaving behind their tools.
“The enforcement team recovered all the fuel, about 200 liters, that had been siphoned by the assailants, a gun, a magazine with three rounds of ammunition, a bag containing documents and a sack containing phones and clothes suspected to belong to the truck driver and turn-boy,” the URA statement concluded.
