Geoffrey Oceng Osborn, the Amuru Resident District Commissioner, and District Security Committee Chairperson says security has been conducting operations in the affected areas to combat the criminal gangs.
There is
strict enforcement of the nighttime curfew in Amuru district to get rid of criminal
gangs from major trading centers. For a week now, police officers backed by the
military start enforcing the curfew as early as 7:00 pm and stop at 06:00 am. The
nationwide curfew imposed by the president to contain the spread of COVID-19
runs from 9 pm to 6 am.
All shops are
expected to follow the extraordinary Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Amuru
has been battling criminal elements that waylay and rape their female victims,
rob their valuables and threaten peace and stability in Pabbo Town Council;
Amuru; Guruguru and Lamogi Sub-Counties since December last year.
Police have
since arrested eight suspects belonging to Mapari Meni and Abut
Squads, both criminal gangs that operate in Olwal Guruguru trading
centers. The suspects appeared before the Chief Magistrate’s Court last week on
among other charges theft, defilement, robbery, rape, arson, and murder.
Geoffrey Oceng Osborn, the Amuru Resident District Commissioner, and District
Security Committee Chairperson, says security has been conducting operations in
the affected areas to combat the criminal gangs.
//Cue in: "These individuals...
Cue out... highway trucks."//
The Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson, Patrick Jimmy Okema, says Mapaari
Meni criminal gang has been involved in violent land clashes. He revealed that the
group killed Geoffrey Apuke on January 26th, 2021 for revealing
their identities.
In February,
following the unrelenting activities of the criminal gangs, the Aswa Regional
Police Commander, Ezekiel Emitu convened an emergency security meeting with the
in-charges of Amuru Police Outposts and Stations at Pabbo Town Council to
enhance their vigilance.
They also
resolved together with local leaders to register all residents to aid them
identify and eliminate the offenders. They also rallied residents to report and
record offenses committed by the criminal gangs.
