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Ntungamo businessman feared kidnapped by security operatives
Family members said they had not established his whereabouts by last evening and attempts to trace him in all police stations in the district did not yield any useful results. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Quoting eyewitnesses, Mr Kansiime said the vehicle sped away towards Mbarara District. The eyewitnesses immediately rushed to a local police station to report the incident. He said police, however, simply sent them away saying, “even if you chase this car right now, there is nothing you can do because the arrest is well coordinated from the top”.
- When contacted, the UPDF spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, said he would make inquiries about the disappearance before making any statement.
Kampala. A local businessman in Ntungamo District has gone missing and is believed to have been kidnapped by security operatives.
Mr, Johnson Nuunu, 58, a resident of Rukiiri Village in Kayonza Sub-county, is said to have been kidnapped at around 10:30pm on Tuesday in Rubaare Trading Centre.
Family members said they had not established his whereabouts by last evening and attempts to trace him in all police stations in the district did not yield any useful results.
Mr Julius Kansiime, a son of the businessman, said the family last saw him on Tuesday when he went out to supervise his businesses.
Mr Kansiime said their father did not return home in the night and shortly after, they were informed that armed people dressed in civilian clothes driving a white Toyota Noah whose registration number could not be readily identified, grabbed his father and bundled him up into another vehicle.
Quoting eyewitnesses, Mr Kansiime said the vehicle sped away towards Mbarara District. The eyewitnesses immediately rushed to a local police station to report the incident. He said police, however, simply sent them away saying, “even if you chase this car right now, there is nothing you can do because the arrest is well coordinated from the top”.
Mr Kansiime says the following day, the family reported the matter to Ntungamo Central Police Station but did not receive any assistance either.
Ms Betty Muganwa, the sister of Mr Nuunu, yesterday said the businessman is a strong supporter of the ruling NRM party and wondered why the security operatives would arrest him and detain him incommunicado.
“We appeal to the security agencies to produce my brother in competent courts if they think he has committed crime,” she said.
Mr Nuunu owns a string of businesses in Ntungamo, including lodges in Rubaare Trading Centre.
Police, army speak
Both police and army have denied knowledge of Mr Nuunu whereabouts.
The Rwizi region police public relations officer, Mr Samson Kasasira, said the Force does not know about his arrest.
When contacted, the UPDF spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, said he would make inquiries about the disappearance before making any statement.
“I have not got information, but let me check and I will get to you later,” Brig Karemire said. However, by press time, he had not responded.
