Kole, (UG):- An irate mob on Tuesday lynched a suspected chicken thief after he was caught red-handed with a cock he stole from the house of Robert Ogwal, a resident of Kona village, Ilera parish, Ayer Sub-County in northern Uganda’s Kole District.
The deceased, identified as Odongo Bonny, 33, was a resident of Barolik village Agwa parish, Aleka Sub-County in the neighbouring Oyam District.
According to preliminary reports, it is alleged that on 19th March 2024 at around 04:00 hours, the deceased together with his colleague (not identified) broke into the kitchen at Ogwal’s home and allegedly stole a cock and put it into a sack.
However, the dogs on seeing the strangers started barking which woke up Ogwal who started making alarms that attracted so many community members.
“The deceased tried to run but was caught at a distance of only 300 meters from the scene. He was beaten by the mob badly and died later while his colleague whom he had left on the roadside, took off after hearing the alarm,” said SP Jimmy Patrick Okema, the North Kyoga Police spokesperson.
SP Okema added that the incident was reported to Apii Police Post in the area where a case of murder by the mob was registered, adding that SOCO (Scene of Crime Officers) and police detectives visited the area and recovered a cock and panga to help in further investigations.
“A team of police detectives and SOCO from the homicide squad in Kole District recovered a cock and a padlock from the Crime scene. Statements were recorded from relevant witnesses and the dead body was conveyed to Lira Regional Referral Hospital pending postmortem,” said Okema.
Police thanked the community members for exhibiting the “neighbour watch” policing strategy but condemned strongly the actions of taking laws into their own hands.
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