French national robbed at Nyege Nyege festival, four arrested
Kiira Regional Police Spokesperson, James Mubi
What you need to know:
- Police picked up the suspects after Quentin Perie Jolu,33 accused them for hitting him with a blunt object before fleeing with his phone and other valuables
Four suspects are in custody at Buwenge central police station in Jinja District for allegedly robbing a French national at the ongoing Nyege Nyege festival.
The suspects in custody include a 27-year-old student of Makerere University Business School (MUBS) - Jinja campus. Police picked up the suspects after Quentin Perie Jolu,33 accused them for hitting him with a blunt object before fleeing with his phone and other valuables.
Quentin is one of the revelers attending the four-day festival at Itanda falls in the Butagaya Sub-county, which has attracted thousands of revelers from different parts of the world. A team of officers from the police health services unit and their counterparts from the Red Cross society found Quentin lying unconscious along the Nile river banks and rushed him to Butagaya health center III for further management.
He later identified his attackers. Police said the suspects who were identified as Walker Enyonyozi, 27, a student of MUBS, Eddy Ssekamwa, 26, John Kasule 30, and Abdul Sseguya 24 have confessed to orchestrating several thefts but have since denied attacking Quentin.
In his statement, Kasule explains that they operate in a team of four and target largely women’s handbags and jewelry.
“We are based in Kampala city and only accessed this festival as revelers but our coordination person here is Enyonyozi who helps us to spot soft targets with expensive jewelry and designer handbags,” he said.
He revealed that the rest of their teammates are then dispatched to initiate conjugal relationships with their victims before robbing them of their valuables.
Kiira Regional Police Spokesperson, James Mubi, said they have deployed detectives to recover Quentin's $1,500, iPhone, warrant credit card, and other valuables, which were stolen from him during last night’s attack.
Mubi notes that a team of police detectives and their counterparts from CMI have been dispatched to intensify efforts to weed out criminal-minded elements from the festival venue. Mubi added that they have also issued an emergency WhatsApp number, where revelers and exhibitors alike can file their complaints for swift police intervention.
