Serious tension and fear have emerged among security officials after it emerged that a group of armed people suspected to be agents of ADF rebels last night attacked Kyegegwa Government Prison, overpowered prison officers and took away their two guns, SpyReports has learnt.
According to local residents neighbouring the Government Prison, at around midnight, they heard several exchanges of gunfire from the prison.
“We all wondered what had happened at the prison because the bullets lasted for close to 10 minutes. We thought some prisoners were trying to escape from prison,” said one of the local residents.
However, another local resident said the shooting was not normal as usual.
“Sometimes when prisoners try to escape, officers normally fire less than five bullets, but last night it was beyond the normal escaping of prisoners,” revealed another nearby local resident.
He added that in the morning, they saw a heavy joint deployment of the UPDF, Police and other intelligence institutions at the prison.
“When we saw that heavy deployment, we knew something else had happened at the prison beyond the escape of prisoners,” said another resident, adding that rumours had circulated that ADF rebels attacked the prison and took their guns.
The local residents are now living in total fear and panic for their lives.
“This is not the first time ADF rebels have hidden in our area. We are now scared they may kill innocent people,” said another resident, calling upon security to tighten their operations in the area to save lives.
He also advised local residents to be very vigilant about people they do not know.
Sources from security say CMI, ISO and Crime Intelligence from Police have already camped in the area to have the culprits arrested.
“We have already deployed both uniformed and plain-clothes operatives from the joint security forces to ensure we arrest the suspects and recover the guns before they are used in criminality,” said a senior security chief.
He added that they have already obtained some clues that will help them in their investigations.
PRISONS SPEAKS OUT
Frank Baine, the communications officer for Uganda Prisons Service, says:
Three Uganda Prisons Service officers were injured and two firearms stolen after armed assailants attempted to break into Kyegegwa Government Prison in the early hours of Friday morning.
According to Uganda Prisons Service spokesperson Frank Baine Mayanja, the incident happened at around 1am when the attackers tried to force their way into the prison facility.
The assailants reportedly targeted three officers who were on duty as night sentries. The officers were attacked and injured before the suspects took away their firearms and fled.
The injured officers have been identified as No. 6972 Sergeant Warder Kalisa Titus, No. 11423 Sergeant Wardress Nakuya Suzan Margret and No. 12980 Warder Odongo Joshua.
They were quickly taken to Kyegegwa General Hospital, where they received medical attention.
The two stolen firearms are registered as No. UG PRI 563615124 and No. UG Pol. 565828358. Each firearm was reportedly loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition at the time of the attack.
Despite the violent incident, prison authorities confirmed that no inmate escaped from the facility. The attack was therefore contained before the assailants could gain access to the prison’s inmates.
Following the incident, other security agencies were immediately alerted and investigations were launched to establish the identity of the attackers and how they managed to target the prison officers.
Security teams have also started searching for the suspects and the two stolen firearms, which remain a major security concern because they were taken with ammunition.
Uganda Prisons Service has appealed to members of the public to provide any information that could help security agencies identify and arrest the suspects or recover the stolen guns.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact the Uganda Prisons Service through the toll-free number 0800144144 or report to the nearest police station.
Authorities are expected to continue with investigations as security teams work to track down those behind the attack.
