How Flying Squad tracked kidnapper, rescued toddler

Rescued. Kevin Ssesanga

What you need to know:

  • Incident. Kevin Ssesanga was on Friday afternoon kidnapped as he returned from Good Care School in Kavule, Wakiso District.

Kampala. Rogers Galiwango was arrested on Tuesday night with a five-year-old child he allegedly kidnapped five days ago.
The suspect was arrested by Flying Squad Unit (FSU) detectives that tracked the phone he was using to call and send texts demanding a Shs10m ransom.
Mr Galiwango is accused of kidnapping Kevin Ssesanga on Friday afternoon as the toddler returned from Good Care School in Kavule, Wakiso District.
The toddler was walking alongside his seven-year-old sister Rachael Nassanga.
Scared by the incident in which his sibling had been grabbed, Nassanga rushed home screaming and narrated the ordeal to her parents Ms Norah Nabweteme and Mr David Sitakange.
“My daughter returned home screaming and trembling. We asked her what had happened and she told us that Kevin had been snatched by a man on a motorcycle. We rushed to the school to find out. We’re told that my boy had been discharged from school alongside his sister,” Ms Nabweteme said.
Shocked by the developments, the parents and school administration filed a case of kidnap at Kavule Police Station in addition to informing FSU headquarters at Kampala Central Police Station (CPS).
Operatives were assigned to comb Kavule and its neighbourhood but the search on the first day yielded no results. It was until last Saturday when Mr Galiwango sent texts to the school director cautioning him to heed instructions or else he would kill the toddler and dump its body outside school premises.
“I am calling your phone but you’re not picking. I want to tell you that you should not waste time looking for this boy. I have him but I need Shs10m. If you delay, I will kill him and dump his body at your school,” Ms Esther Nabakooza, the head of nursery section at Good Care School, said, quoting the message Galiwango sent to her boss.

Alerting security agencies
With the confirmation that Ssesanga had been kidnapped, Ms Nabakooza said they shared the information to FSU, Internal Security Organisation and Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).
FSU detectives, who preferred anonymity, said they immediately started tracking the kidnapper’s telephone as they urged school administration to keep persuading him that they were looking for the money.
“He called asking the director to first send some for money for feeding the boy. The school director sent Shs29,000 but the kidnapper warned that they should call him confirming that they have got the money,” an FSU detective said.
For the whole of Sunday and Monday morning, trackers realised that the kidnapper was moving from Kavule to nearby villages.
The suspect last called on Monday evening and was detected to be in Ndejje Lubugumu.
Plain clothed detectives and other security personnel shifted to the suspect’s new location. At the moment, school administrators were asked to speak to the kidnapper assuring him that the money was to be sent not later than Tuesday.
The Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, said after signals revealed that Galiwango was in Ndejje, a hunt for him was intensified.
“Our tracking system helped us to locate the spot where he was making calls. We searched the houses and we found him with boy still dressed in his school uniform. We apprehended the suspect and we have reunited the boy with his parents,” Mr Owoyesigyire said.
Police said the suspect was arrested at around 11pm. Detectives said Galiwango was to be interrogated to establish whether he had his other accomplices.
Police said a charge of kidnap for ransom had been preferred against him and he would soon be arraigned in court.
“I thank police for rescuing my child. I thank the school administration for not neglecting us even though the child was already out of their hands,” Mr Sitakange said.