Four family members killed in cold blood

BUIKWE- Police in Buikwe District are hunting for a gang of criminals that attacked Buleega Village, Najja Sub-county killing four family members on Monday.

Those who were killed Agnes Nakabugo , 40,  and her three  children who have been identified a Agnes Nassolo,16;  Owen Wagaba, 14;  and Tracy Zalwango,10.

Both Nassolo and Wagaba were students of Buwooya Trust Academy in Najja Sub-county, while Zalwango was a Primary Five pupil at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School, Makindu.

According to Mr Joseph Kisekka, a son of the late Nakabugo, who survived, said the attackers went to their home at about 2am when the victims were asleep.

“I was sleeping in a separate room next to the main house. When I woke up in the morning to prepare go to school, I was shocked that when I tried to notify my siblings in the main house no one was responding,” he said.

He said: “The main door was locked from outside. When I entered through the window, I was bewildered to find my mother and my three siblings lying dead in the sitting room in a pool of blood.”

Mr Kisekka said their father, a one Tom Ganja, abandoned his children at the home where they have been living with their mother.

Buikwe District Chairperson, Mr Mathias Kigongo, one of the district officials who rushed to the scene, tasked police to bring the suspects to book.

“What is surprising is that nothing was stolen from the house,” he said.

Buikwe District Police Commander, Mr Alex Wabwire, said they recovered machetes and an axe  at scene of crime.

 “We also   recovered blood stained clothes from a nearby house which is rented by casual workers at a private sugarcane plantation. We suspect them to be behind this gruesome murder because all the occupants are on the run,” he said.

Machete-wielding gangs that initially gained notoriety in Masaka sub-region in 2016, last year spread to other districts including Mukono District, where they raided six villages and hacked to death four residents in October 21.

Some of the victims were waylaid while returning home. Others were cornered in the safety of their living rooms and killed.

Three days later, the thugs attacked businessman Archie Rwego’s home at Mukutugumu Village, Wakiso District, hacked him and robbed a television set and a bag containing Shs300, 000.