Police arrest Hoima man over ‘missile’
Mr Agaba displays the ‘missile’ at Hoima Police Station on Monday . Photo by Francis Mugerwa
The police in Hoima District are holding a man for allegedly fabricating a gadget similar to a missile.
The suspect, a resident of Kiryangobe Village in Kitoba Sub-county, was reportedly arrested while fabricating what he described as a missile in his workshop in Kiryatete, a suburb of Hoima Municipality.
“I have been researching on internet how missiles are made in countries like USA, China and North Korea. My intension is to show the world that Africans can also make such weapons,” the suspect told police on Tuesday.
He said he was in advanced stages of researching how to obtain a launch pad which could propel the cylindrical metallic devise, which has a cone-shaped head.
“I had not completed research on how to install sensors, cameras and uranium on such weapons,” he said in his police statement.
The Hoima District Criminal Investigations Officer, Mr Agaba Johnson, said investigations are underway.
“He was arrested, interrogated and (medically) examined. He has been forwarded to the CID headquarters for further questioning,” Mr Agaba said.
The suspect said he had planned to notify the government after completing the invention so that it launches the missile before he could embark on a research to manufacture other weapons, which he said Uganda requires.
“Uganda can save money which it spends on buying weapons if people like me are supported to manufacture the machines which the country needs,” the suspect told Daily Monitor at Hoima police on Tuesday.
When contacted, the Police spokesperson, Mr Asuman Mugenyi, did not give details about possible charges which will be preferred against the suspect.
“His motive is being jointly investigated by the counter terrorism squad and other detectives at the CID headquarters,” Mr Mugenyi said by telephone.
Detectives have made a background investigation about him which has revealed that the suspect formerly pursued a catering course in Mbarara and in 2008 he reportedly worked at a Kampala based NGO offering HIV services.
He reportedly stopped working in February this year before returning to Hoima to trade in agricultural produce.
The suspect told police that his love for weapons manufacturing can be traced to his childhood.
“While still a child, I assembled a homemade bomb and went to test it at a river. It exploded and injured my right leg. Villagers got concerned and reported me to the LCI. My mother cautioned me against making such dangerous materials,” he stated in his statement at Hoima Police Station.
