Fear as criminals terrorise Arua City

April 20 became a dark day in the life of Ms Alice Abio. Ms Abio had disembarked from bus in Arua Town at 6:30am and was heading home in Abiriambati when she was intercepted by three men on Rhino Camp Road. 

“The men besieged me as they wielded knives at me. When I saw the knives, my blood went cold. They picked my handbag containing a phone, Shs400,000 and held my mouth so that I could not make an alarm,” she told Monitor on Monday.

“The thugs warned me that they would kill me if I don’t surrender money and all valuables,” she said.
 Similarly, Mr George Asiku, a resident, lost his phone to thugs.

“In February at around 3pm when I was being ridden on motorcycle, a friend called me and when I picked up the phone, some men approached us on boda boda. They slowed down and all of a sudden, the one seated behind just grabbed my phone and sped off,” he said.

Mr Asiku said when he told the boda boda man carrying him to chase the thugs, the man declined that his fuel could not make it.  “I realised later that the boda man who took me was part of the racket,” he said.  

The experiences of Ms Abio and Mr Asiku are a snapshot of the increasing cases of crime that have plagued the border town of Arua.

Many people are falling victim to thieves, some of whom use guns and machetes.

The latest case occurred last Saturday when Ben Amaku, a guard from Security Group Africa Company Ltd was shot dead by unknown assailants in Arua City.

The killing of Amaku followed a scenario last month when an armed robber attacked Champion Betting Centre on Arua-Pakwach highway in Nsambia, Awindiri Ward, shot and injured  Mr Collins Adule before making off  with an unspecified amount of money.

Also last month, a boda boda rider was killed and his motorcycle taken by unknown assailants.
The deadly hotspots include Rhino Camp Road, Adroa road, Onduparaka road, Barifa-Muni roads among others.

The Member of Parliament for Arua Central Division, Mr Jackson Lee Atima, is also concern about increasing cases of gun violence in the city.

“There is laxity by the security team, thinking that everything is okay. We do not want the city to return to the insecurity of those years when people were killed, robbed at any given time. In this way, we shall not attract business in the city if people are insecure,” he said.

The City Police Commander, Mr Jude Nasucha, said the police is doing all it takes to see that the crime wave is brought down.

“Sometime in April, a security guard of G-unit disappeared with a gun. And we suspect that it is the gun being used to terrorise people in the video footage we have seen. We are intensifying our resolve to have that gun recovered,” Mr Nasucha said.

But Mr Rashid Oshino, the secretary for security in Arua Central Division, attributed the rise in armed robberies in the city to a recent law passed by the South Sudan government which gives power to security forces to kill those caught stealing using guns.

“We suspect that those who were hiding in South Sudan have escaped back to Uganda out of fear of being killed there. And I wonder why the security lights that were lit during the president’s tour in the region have suddenly gone, off leaving the streets dark and unsafe,” he said.   

Recent incidents 

The latest case occurred last Saturday when Ben Amaku, a guard from Security Group Africa Company Ltd was shot dead by assailants in Arua City.

The killing of Amaku followed a scenario last month when an armed robber attacked Champion Betting Centre in Awindiri Ward, shot Mr Collins Adule before making off  with an unspecified amount of money.