29 March 2016

Surrender illegal guns or we send you to heaven - RDC




Lira Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Emmanuel Mwaka Lutukumoi, has issued a directive for those in possession of illegal firearms to surrender them or face the full force of the law.






The directive follows concerns over a high percentage of firearms that are currently believed to be in the hands of wrong people in the district, once a war-torn area.






In a statement on Monday, Lutukumoi, who also chairs the district security committee, said a major operation is underway to recover these weapons.






He warned that those who will refuse to heed to the directive would be “sent to heaven”, loosely meaning death.
Those to be disarmed include NRM cadres, MPs, former Amuka militias and locals who acquired weapons through dubious means during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency.






“The disarmament of those holding illegal arms is on…even those legally holding but with bad tempers will lose them,” Mr Mwaka said.






Cant give up
He claimed that he had been receiving many ‘funny’ phone calls from anonymous people but he swore that no one will cow him into abandoning the operation.






“I was in Opposition saying government does nothing. Now I am in government to do something to make things better,” he said.






Police puts the number of illegal arms in the entire eight districts of Lango including Kole, Oyam, Apac, Lira, Dokolo, Otuke, Amolatar and Alebtong at about 5,000. So far, only 20 illegal guns have been recovered since the operation was launched four years ago.






In 2012, the UPDF gave a one month ultimatum to surrender the arms but it was ignored.






The operation
Arrested. So far, according to the Lira District police commander Mr Ezra Tugume, two people have been arrested in connection with possession of illegal arms with the suspects held at Lira Central Police Station as investigations continue.






Illegal firearms. There are about 5,000 illegal firearms in private hands in the eight districts that make up Lango.






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