Five Suspected Karamojong Cattle Rustlers Arrested in Kitgum

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.