Quirino Olum, the Orom Sub County Chairperson says that the rustlers were arrested from a market in Kotido district following a tip-off to security personnel composed of the army.
Security personnel in Kitgum are holding five suspected Karamojong
cattle rustlers on allegations of stealing 25 heads of cattle.
The suspects whose names have been withheld for fear of jeopardizing
investigations were arrested from Kotido district on Friday following
information that they were trying to sell off three cows.
The three cattle are reportedly part of the twenty-five that were stolen from
Abin-Nino village in Kati-Kaleb Parish in Orom Sub County Kitgum district on
the 25th of February this year.
Quirino Olum, the Orom Sub County Chairperson says that the rustlers were
arrested from a market in Kotido district following a tip-off to security
personnel composed of the army.
He added that the suspects were briefly detained at Kotido Police Post but
later on Friday transferred to Kitgum Central Police Station pending further
investigations meanwhile the cattle are being kept at Orenge Barracks in
Kotido.
Amuli Kintu Kasugga, the Kitgum Deputy Resident Commissioner who picked the
suspects from Kotido declined to reveal the identities of the suspects noting
that more of them are still on the loose and may hide once they know of their
colleagues` arrest.
Statistics from the security in Kitgum district indicate that more than 102
cattle have been stolen by suspected Karamojong rustlers since March last
year.
So far 79 have been recovered and at least six suspects gunned down during the
raid.
Members of the Acholi Parliamentary Group have equally voiced their concerns
and asked that vigilante groups in the areas affected by the cattle rustlers are
armed so that they contain the vice.