16-year-old boy shot dead by police in Jinja

A 16-year-old boy was on Saturday night shot dead by police in Mutai Village in Jinja City.

The deceased was identified as Nelson Nabugere, a student at Lwanda High School in Jinja.

Mr Charles Isooba, the father of the deceased, said he heard gunshots at around 9pm as he was preparing to go to bed.
“After some time I was informed that my son had been killed. I rushed to the clinic where he was taken and found him already dead. My son had just finished eating supper and was going to where he sleeps.’’

Mr Isooba added that when he tried to find out how his son was killed, he was arrested together with a colleague but they were later released.

Speaking to Daily Monitor on Saturday, the Kiira Region Police commander, Mr Dauda Hiriga, confirmed the death of Nabugere.

“On Saturday at 9.45PM, police in Mutai got a call from residents that there was a fight near the police station. Our officer called Corp Musaidizi went to find out the cause but when he got to the scene, residents started throwing stones at him. In a bid to defend himself, he started firing live bullets in the air,’’ Mr Hiriga said.

He added: “In the process, two people were shot. One, identified as Nelson Nabugere, was killed and the other, only identified as Ashiraf, is still was injured. He is admitted at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.’’

Mr Hiriga added that after getting the news of the death of the student, residents started protesting.

“The residents wanted to bring the body to the police station. They burnt the home of the police officer [who shot the student] which is next to Mutai Police Station. It is only after we got involved that the situation stabilised,’’ he said.
Mr Hiriga condemned the act of police officers killing civilians.

He said the suspect (Police Officer) is being detained and preparations to take him to court on Monday are under way 
He added that they are currently working with the family members to arrange for the burial of the deceased.

Previous incidents
•Yesterday, an overzealous police officer on patrol in Kyebando, a Kampala City suburb, shot and injured a boda boda passenger as he was being taken to Mulago hospital for medical attention.

•On June 14, a boda boda rider was shot dead by a security operative deployed to enforce covid-19 inter-district travel ban at Kibede Trading Centre, a few meters away from Mugusu town.