Driver, two others arrested over Iculi's shooting

Police have confirmed that they have three people in custody over the shooting of renowned blogger Ibrahim Tusuubira, better known by the aliases Isma Olaxess and Jjaja Iculi.

Addressing journalists at police headquarters in Kampala, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said one of the people they are obtaining statements from is the deceased’s driver, Mathias Wasswa, who was driving him home on the fateful day.

On May 6, unknown assailants riding on a motorcycle gunned down Olaxess near his home in Kyanja in Kampala’s Kawempe Division at around 9.20pm.

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Without giving specifics of how the other two suspects were arrested, Enanga said they are building information from the three suspects.

“Outside the driver, we also have two other suspects that have been arrested. We have three people whom we are interviewing for now. The driver is still in our custody helping out with certain lines of inquiry,” Enanga told journalists on May 8.

He added that task teams from Crime Intelligence, Forensics, IT directorate together with Kampala Metropolitan police are involved in the probe.

“What we can confirm is that it was not a random attack but a targeted incident where two assailants armed with one pistol emerged from their hide-out near his gate and the armed assailant fired multiple shots at close range, killing him (Olaxess) instantly from the passenger seat,” Enanga noted.

By Monday evening, questions still prevailed over how the driver escaped the shooting without physical injuries despite footage showing some bullets riddled the driver’s side.

“The two assailants managed to get away on foot. Our K-nine dogs managed to trail the scent up to one of the main roads where it is believed that they boarded a motorcycle and escaped. They dropped one glove which we believe was used by the shooter. The K-Nine helped recover it,” Enanga explained.

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Police are also reviewing Saturday movements of the victim from Munyonyo where he was playing football at around 4pm, via the Entebbe Expressway- before they stopped for dinner at Nyakana’s Bar in Mutungo.

According to police records, Olaxess and the driver left the bar at around 8:15pm for his home in Kyanja.

“As soon as they left Mutungo, they reached Munyonyo roundabout. The victim then received a phone call and asked the driver to park aside because the person behind the phone was telling him to wait for him and meet him there. The person behind that phone call did not appear. So, they drove on until when they reached at Olaxess’ place where they were attacked and the victim shot dead,” Enanga revealed.

According to police, it was still not clear if the caller is linked to the masterminds of the murder or not.

“The motive of the murder has not yet been established and there is a lot of speculation from the media, bloggers and netizens but we call upon the public to remain calm because none of the speculations have been verified,” Enanga urged.

Olaxess was buried in Mukono District on Sunday.