Boda boda riders continue to be murdered by thugs in Uganda
A thug identified as Isma Kateregga, has accused renowned Katwe businesswoman, Shadia Nantuma, of initiating him into acts of robbery. Nantuma is well-known for selling motorcycle spare parts at Katwe near Muganzirwazza Mall, in Makindye Division, in Kampala.
Kateregga led the flying squad and crime intelligence officers to Nantuma’s shop and then accused her of initiating him into crime when he approached her for a job. Kateregga, who calls Nantuma his aunt, said she instead told him that there was the quickest way he could earn money.
“She is my aunt and when I approached her to get me a job, she told me that she had ways I could make quick money. She connected me to a robbery gang and told me that our job was to use all the possible means to steal motorcycles. She sells the motorcycles we steal in her shop as spare parts or sells them to her colleagues also dealing in motorcycle spare parts,” Kateregga said.
According to Kateregga, Nantuma sometimes participates in the robbery as a passenger and hoodwinks unsuspecting bodaboda riders to stop at deadly spots.
“She often directs us to go to places where she knows no one would easily come to rescue these bodaboda riders. She picks them as a passenger and when she reaches the spot where we are waiting, she claims to have reached and disembarks. In that process, we hit the bodaboda rider and we take the motorcycle,” Kateregga added.
Nantuma was picked and is currently detained alongside Kateregga at Katwe police station. So far, police led by Ismail Katende have 10 notorious motorcycle robbers who have confessed to having hacked, hit or stabbed several bodaboda riders. Some of the notorious suspects include Charles Mugenyi, Abbas Damulira, Yasin Ntale, and Simon Kisekka.
John Galabuzi, one of the leaders of bodaboda associations in Makindye says that many of their colleagues have been killed or left with nasty injuries by thugs who disguise as passengers. “I call upon all bodaboda riders to be vigilant and avoid carrying passengers who take them to isolated places. We need to work as a team to deal with these thugs,” Galabuzi said.
Patrick Onyango, the Deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, says that operations targeting robbers in Kampala Metropolitan are continuing in various parts and warned that whoever has been participating will be apprehended.
Makindye is known for being a hub for all sorts of robbers who have over the years killed and maimed several of their victims.
One group led by Aloysius Tamale alias Young Mulo was linked to over 20 killings of bodaboda riders. Young Mulo’s group was arrested after CCTV footage showed them strangling bodaboda rider Derrick Mulindwa at Mengo Kakyeeka, Rubaga Division, in Kampala.
-URN
