Ugandan army arrest 3 Kenyan police officers

juma chrispinus

June 12, 2018 9:49 AM

The officers were arrested and disarmed by the UPDF

Three Kenyan police officers were dramatically detained by the Ugandan armed forces (UPDF ) in a new row over fishing territories.

Four fishermen were also bundled together with the officers after they were arrested near Mageta and Huma Islands in Lake Victoria, the reported Tuesday.

Eye witnesses recounted that the officers’ guns were taken away as were their phones before they were taken to Bugiri Mainland Prison in Uganda at about 6pm.

ALSO READ: Ngirita’s revelation in affidavit forces lead investigator to step aside

Siaya County Administration Police Commandant Patrick Lumumba said the 3pm incident involved up to eight soldiers on patrol.

The officers, he said, were rounded up and put together with Kenyan fishermen found catching fish in Ugandan waters.

Lumumba disclosed that the attackers, who were heavily armed, first hijacked five Kenyan boats and took away their engines.

"Our officers were overpowered by the heavily armed attackers who lay an ambush on the officers who assumed they were civilians and fishermen," said Lumumba.

Nyanza Regional Commissioner Moffat Kangi was set to visit the area to try and resolve the tiff. It is the second such high-profile detention by Ugandan authorities guarding the lake.

juma chrispinus