Gunmen abduct 3 children of Jinja NUP coordinator  

Unidentified gunmen kidnapped three children of Musisi Kibugujju, the Southern Jinja City Division National Unity Platform (NUP) coordinator. 

According to Musisi, the plain-clothed gunmen forced their way into his home in Masese I village on Sunday and ordered his family members including eight children and his two wives to sit on the ground and went ahead to search the house without introducing themselves.  

Musisi explains that the group comprised two women and four men who were holding AK-47 rifles and were travelling in a numberless omnibus fondly known as a drone. He says that the gunmen overturned household items, inspected his garden, and blindfolded his children before speeding off. 

The missing children are; Aziza Nakadama, 15, James Muwonge, 20, and Ardinard Alaye, 17. He says that one of the ladies insisted that the children were collaborators of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

“I’m really shocked and surprised that drones have been brought to my home. Instead of tormenting me up to this extent, they can as well just shoot me dead, maybe I will be better off. Please, they should style up otherwise it will go beyond, and people might be forced to also liberate themselves. They claim that some of my daughters know about the recruitment that is taking place in ADF…I don’t know if they might also come for me because you never know what is transpiring now in Uganda,” said Musisi. 

Kiira region police authorities have since declined to comment on the matter. However, officers from Walukuba police station and Masese community policing station told our reporter on condition of anonymity that the drone was first sighted in the area on Friday but their superiors directed them to distance themselves from their operations. 

Asad Magumba, the Masese I village defence secretary, says that a numberless drone first stormed Musisi’s home on December 26, 2022, but the occupants formally introduced themselves to the local leadership and came along with two local police officers.

He, however, notes that the Sunday incident was more dramatic because the gunmen sealed off the road leading to Musisi’s residence as residents and motorists converged to witness events as they unfolded.