The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police have recovered a piece of ivory weighing 30 Kilograms from three suspected poachers in Elegu Township in Amuru district.
The suspected poachers are Muzamil Hamuza, 31, Ali Magidu, 32 and Govile Nuru 44.
They were picked up from Loriko West Village in Elegu Town Council on March 7th, 2019.
Patrick Jimmy Okema, the Aswa River Region Police spokesperson, says the suspects are being investigated under SD 28/07/03/2019 of Elegu Police Station. He says they will be charged with illegal possession of protected species once investigations are complete.
Elegu Town Council is located Eastward in the proximity of an active historical elephant migration corridor between Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda and the South Sudan.
It is unclear how the suspects obtained the ivory but the conflict in South Sudan has exacerbated poaching and trafficking in wildlife between Uganda and South Sudan.
Uganda Wildlife Authority says most of the wildlife products seized in transit originate from neighboring countries in the great lakes region such as the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan where different rebel groups such as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) engage in poaching.
It says Uganda is used as a conduit to markets in the Middle East and Asia.
*****
URN
