4 hacked, 13 huts razed in Apaa revenge attack

AMURU/ADJUMANI. Four people have sustained severe injuries after being hacked by unknown men in another revenge attack over the disputed Apaa land bordering Amuru and Adjumani districts.
The attackers also reportedly looted household properties and foodstuffs before setting ablaze 13 grass-thatched huts.
The injured from the Madi community were reportedly attacked on Wednesday morning by men wielding machete, spears, bows and arrows and suspected to be from the Acholi community. The incident happened at about 8am near Ngoro River in Zoka Centre, Mgbai Village, in Itirikwa Sub-county.
Local leaders identified the injured as Peter Iranya, 53, Michael Mawadri, 34, Tobias Amadruaku, 75, and Fred Edema Longonda, 41.
Both Mawadri and Amadruaku were left with broken legs and speared in the back in the attack while Iranya was left with cuts on the head and Longonda sustained mild injuries.
The injured were rushed to Adjumani Hospital where they are receiving treatment.
The revenge attack comes just a day after the army deployed an additional 600 troops to keep peace in the disputed 40-square kilometres fertile piece of land.
The deployment followed a recent attack on the Acholi community in Goro B and Juka A villages by men suspected to be from the Madi community, only two weeks ago.
At least five people were left with severe injuries in the attack and more than 40 huts burnt down and more than 2,100 people displaced with some 400 opting to settle in an internally displaced peoples camp at Juka centre.
Injured speaks out
Speaking to Saturday Monitor from his hospital bed on Thursday, Mr Amadruaku said they were heading to their farm land on the fateful day when they were attacked. He said their attackers numbered about 60 men.
He said the attackers confiscated their farm tools, phones and money amounting to about Shs1 million.
Mr Amadruaku expressed fear that the attack will ruin their brotherly relations with the Acholi community and pleaded for peace.
“Living in harmony is the healthier way for both communities of Acholi and Madi,” he said.
Mr Amadruaku said they were rescued by the army after one of their colleagues, who was also injured, managed to escape.
The Adjumani District chairperson, Mr Jamnes Leku, on Thursday told Saturday Monitor in an interview that the revenge attack was influenced by political leaders in Amuru District.
“The leadership of Acholi and Amuru are the ones tribalising the land conflict, they are the ones influencing the locals settled on the land not to pay allegiance to Adjumani District local government and fight for the land,” Mr Leku said.
But Mr Anthony Akol, the Kilak North County Member of Parliament, said he had not yet received any information on the latest attacks.
He also dismissed allegations that the attacks were influenced by Acholi and Amuru politicians, adding that the blame is being thrown about following President Museveni’s statement in Kitgum District on Wednesday.
President Museveni, while addressing hundreds of people gathered to mark the 38th Tarehe Sita celebration at Kitgum Core PTC in Kitgum Municipality, blamed political leaders from the two communities for the ongoing conflict over Apaa.
Mr Museveni said the leaders were seeking cheap popularity at the expense of the locals and asked them to desist from fueling the conflict.
He also promised to visit the disputed area by end of this month to listen to the people on the ground and compare notes with Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda’s reports before coming out with decisions to solve the land squabbles.
Dr Rugunda was appointed by President Museveni last year to chair a 16-member committee formed from Adjumani and Acholi to dialogue on Museveni’s three key recommendations on ending the Apaa land conflict.
But the committee has so far failed to agree on the presidents directives in three of their negotiations at the Gulu State Lodge in Gulu Town between September and December last year.
Effort to get comments from the UPDF 4th Division spokesperson, Cpt Lawrence Draga, were futile by press time as he didn’t pick up our repeated calls to his known mobile phone contacts.
But the Adjumani Resident District Commissioner, Mr Peter Taban Dada, said the attack happened despite the recent army deployment to the area because the soldiers had not yet covered all the area.
“The attack happened on the day the soldiers were deployed because they had not yet put their boots in all the areas. This wasn’t laxity in security,” he said.
Background
Since 2012, Apaa has remained a hotbed of violent clashes between the Acholi and Madi communities, with each claiming ownership of the strip of fertile piece of land that is estimated to be around 40 square miles. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) also claims the land as part of East Madi Wildlife Game Reserve and Zoka Central Forest.
Tension over the land escalated between the Madi and Acholi in October 2017 after Local Government minister Tom Butime officially handed over Apaa to Adjumani District officials in Labala Parish under heavy security deployment.
Mr Butime’s move followed an earlier decision by the government to annex part of Pabbo Sub-county in Amuru District to Adjumani District, despite protests from Amuru leaders and residents in 2015.
An estimated 26,000 people are currently settled on the disputed piece of land.
At least 18 people have been killed in clashes over the land with more than 814 grass-thatched huts burnt down and properties worth millions of shillings looted and destroyed by both government forces and unknown locals.