Shock after private security guard killed at petrol station
Onlookers gather at the scene where Otim was murdered from. PHOTO/ ENOCK MATOVU
What you need to know:
- Otim ’s wife, Angel Nankabirwa, who is six months pregnant, collapsed upon arriving at the scene. She was rushed to a nearby clinic to receive special care.
Police in Mityana District are holding three people in connection with the brutal murder of a private security guard on Tuesday morning.
Otim Kizito aka Justin, 27, a resident of Bamunanika Cell in Busimbi Division, had been hired to provide guard services at Moonlight Petrol Station located in Bamunanika Cell in Mityana Municipality along Mityana - Mubende Highway, where he was killed.
Preliminary police investigations reveal that unknown assailants raided the petrol station in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and hacked Kizito with machetes, killing him on the spot. After the raid, the assailants reportedly made off with one of the motorcycles which were parked at the petrol station.
“When the supervisor of the petrol station arrived, he noticed that the security guard was not around. A few minutes later, he landed on his lifeless body lying between the vehicles which were parked at the station,” Ms Racheal Kawala, the Wamala regional police spokesperson said.
She said it was the supervisor of the petrol station she did not name who made an alarm, alerting pump attendants on night duty and neighbours.
“Later, they [staffers and neighbours] were joined by the area village chairperson, Gerald Kimera, who called our team from Mityana Police station,” She added.
Ms Kawala said all the three suspects in custody, including two women, are residents of Bamunanika Cell in Mityana Municipality.
"We used our sniffer dog to arrest the trio, and we have also found out that the deceased was not armed but was using a club and a torch for security ", she said
Otim ’s wife, Angel Nankabirwa, who is six months pregnant, collapsed upon arriving at the scene. She was rushed to a nearby clinic to receive special care.
According to Mr Kimera, the crime rate in the area is on the increase. He attributed it to unemployment as youths loiter in the village.
"This is the third time thugs are attacking the same station in a space of one year. We urge the station owners to purchase surveillance cameras and also hire well-trained security personnel to man their premises, "he said.
