KAMPALA, UGANDA: Renowned Ugandan blogger, Ibrahim Tusubira alias Isma Olaxess has been shot dead, police has said. He was in his late 50s.
Olaxess, the President of Uganda’s Bloggers Association was gunned down Saturday evening by unknown assailants riding on a motorcycle near his home in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb. The motive for his killing is not yet known.
Preliminary reports, according to police, indicated that an unidentified gunman with an SMG rifle opened fire on the vehicle in which the blogger was driving. The blogger was seated in the passenger seat at the time of the attack.
A statement posted on his Facebook page at around 9:40 pm moments after the reports seemed to confirm his shooting read. “we are saddened to inform you that Jajja Iculi has been shot. More info to come,” ADMIN.
Less than 30 minutes later, another statement read “I have lost what to tell you all lovers of Jajja Iculi but it is confirmed Jajja Iculi is no more RIP”
Photos widely shared on various social media accounts Saturday showed Isma Olaxess’ body covered in blood, sitting in a car, wearing a Lakers jersey and a subha wrapped around his neck.
The development comes just days after he warned in one of his vlogs that there were plans to kill him.
The NRM-affiliated blogger recently appeared in a video celebrating the death of Labour State Minister Charles Okello Engola whom he accused of failing to look after his workers including his shooter and bodyguard, Private Wilson Sabiiti.
Olaxess would later in the video castigate the slain minister for causing the arrest of Ugandan Citizens and claiming the UPDF personnel captured battering Ugandans on video were from West Africa.
Saturday’s shocking incident comes at a time when the country is recovering from the shooting of Minister Charles Okello Engola on Tuesday in the same area of Kyanja.
Several high-profile people have been killed in recent years under mysterious circumstances, including DPP Joan Kagezi, Maj Mohammed Kiggundu, and AIGP Andrew Kaweesi, Muhammad Kirumira, among others.
The government and security agencies have often attributed such shootings to the terror attacks from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
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