Police steps in as Boda Boda 2010 offices burnt

Police, army steps in as Boda Boda 2010 offices burnt

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Riot police and the army have rushed to Nateete, Bukesa and Makindye on the outskirts of Kampala after a rival section of the Boda Boda 2010 motorcyle riders group set their offices and property on fire.

Several motorcyle riders, many of them said to be attached to Century Boda Boda association, were seen raiding and setting property at the offices on fire as they celebrated the weekend raids that had the leader of the Boda Boda 2010  Hajji Abdallah Kitata arrested.

Military police and police intervened to stop the damage of property. They later ferried away, as evidence, most of the property at the different Boda Boda 2010 offices.

Operatives of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) together with Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and the Military Police raided the offices in Kampala of the Boda Boda 2010, an organisation led by Kitata and made several arrests at the weekend. CMI also raided Top Radio, where several Boda Boda 2010 officials were being hosted.

Kitata is also the chairman of ruling party NRM Lubaga division, Kampala and had turned the Boda Boda 2010 into a militia that involved themselves in politics and worked with the Uganda police, according to them, to resolve crime in the city.

Reports indicate that the raids followed CMI’s arrest earlier of of a member of  Kitata’s Boda Boda 2010 group, in connection with the murder of Case Hospital accountant Francis Ekalungar. Ekulangar was found dead, burned beyond recognition a fortnight back.

Security officials searched the home of one of the Boda Boda 2010 leaders in Kabowa on Sunday where they found a vehicle suspected to have been taken from Case Clinic accountant Ekalungar who was murdered .

Boda Boda 2010 office in Nateete burnt by rival boda boda riders following the arrest of Abdul Kitatta over the weekend. They accuse the vigilante-cum-militia outfit of torturing them (boda boda riders) via ? @bamulanzeki pic.twitter.com/fjky6LalVQ

— The Observer (@observerug) January 22, 2018

The arrests come days after Police struggled to explain the release on bond of Kifeesi leader Paddy Sserunjogi alias Ssobi. Ssobi had been arrested on Monday by Police as he addressed a press conference, the second in a month in which he explained recent crime waves in the city and admitted working with security forces.

Police Chief Kale Kayihura told parliament’s committee on security mid-week that he had been asked by the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) to release Ssobi, but also added that his only connection to another organisation Boda Boda 2010 was because its leader Kitata had been useful in the fight against crime in the city.

A day later, CMI raided  Boda Boda 2010 and reports indicate that those among the arrested is Kitata.

Boda Boda 2010 last year dominated the news for their involvoment in politics, most especially during the age limit debate. They targeted those opposing the change in the constitution.

In the operations against crime in Kampala, late last year, two senior commanders in the Uganda Police Force were arrested by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).

Assistant Commissioner of Police Joel Aguma was in October last year charged jointly  with eight other security personnel  including the former commandant of special Operations Unit Nixon Agasirwe for alleged kidnap of two Rwandese nationals whom they allegedly conveyed to Kigali against their will.

The officers are being investigated and are in the Court Martial over a wide range of high profile cases handled by the unit during the recent past including the murders of Assistant Inspector General of Police (IGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi. Other accusations include operating private cells and orchestrating armed robberies and committing abuses against refugees in the country including repatriating some of the refugees back to their countries of origin against their will.

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