Arua, (UG);- The Acting District Health Officer (DHO) for Arua District, Mr Paul Bishop Drileba has been confirmed dead after a mob raided on him and beat him to death over an alleged land dispute on Saturday afternoon.
Arua Resident District Commissioner, Mr Swaib Toko, confirmed the incident saying Mr Drileba, had on the afternoon taken with him a surveyor to a piece of land he had bought in Ajia Sub-county, Arua district for mapping, but the residents who claimed to own parts of the disputed land opposed the survey leading to the bloody fight between the two camps.
“The incident happened on Saturday when he took a surveyor to survey a land he had purchased, but the community was against the move. From what we have obtained, the community members mobilized and attacked them,” Mr Toko told this reporter on Saturday.
“The DHO was killed, and the surveyor was critically injured by the mob.”
The body of Mr. Drileba was retrieved from the bush where locals dumped him and a team of Criminal Investigative officers from Arua district and Arua City also documented the scene for further investigations into the case recorded as that or murder by a mob.
Drileba was promoted to Acting DHO for Arua district about seven years ago after serving for several years as the District Health Inspector.
Land disputes in Ajia Sub-county have persisted for years, with the area being lucrative for farmland buyers. Last year, a man was similarly killed by communities in Ajia over land and his body dumped in the bush.
As news spread, WhatsApp groups were flooded with condolence messages, with many condemning the mob action. Authorities have repeatedly urged community members to resolve disputes peacefully and warned against mob justice.
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