Police speak out on suspected attack on Jinja SS by gunmen

JINJA, UGANDA: Police in Jinja district have clarified the incident that caused panic amongst students at Jinja Senior Secondary School fearing that the school was allegedly under attack by unidentified gunmen.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, the Kiira Regional Police Spokesperson SP James Mubi said upon clear examination of CCTV footage recorded at Jinja SSS on Saturday, police established that a mentally ill Joel Mugulusi, a resident of Walukuba-Masese division in Jinja city had caused the panic at the school.

Mubi explaining the incident said that the Eastern Motor Club (EMC) Rally which was hosted in Jinja from Friday, July 7 to Sunday, July 9 had a variety of racing cars that kept blowing popping sounds along various routes in the city. This was later coupled with the scary words from the mentally ill Mugulusi that made students to believe that they were under some sort of attack.

“The rally cars were blowing popping sound along Kampala road, Nile avenue, main street, Kamuli road, Jinja-Iganga highway and at Speke resort Bujagali falls where the sachet took place at Kyabiirwa village, Budondo in Jinja district,” Mubi said, adding that the climax of the unnecessary “panic was early morning on Saturday during the morning glory of praise and worship by the born-again students at 5 am at the school.”

He however urged the general public to be alert at all crowded places to avert threats of terrorism and other crime. People have also been advised to report any suspicious persons and activities for action.

“There’s a need for serious alertness at all crowded places like schools, petrol stations, markets, hotels, lodges, churches, mosques, trading centres, highways, government installations like bridges, power stations and others. This is aimed at averting threats of terrorism and other organized crimes like theft and homosexuality,” SP Mubi said.

He further warned that “the population generally should report any suspicious persons and activities to police for actionable mechanism.”

Meanwhile, DailyExpress has learnt that the mentally ill suspect(Joel Mugulusi) was handed over to his parents and police have urged the general public, especially school proprietors to install CCTV cameras and monitor proceedings at school using school cameras citing that it’s even possible to connect the system to a mobile phone for easy monitoring.