Four arrested for robbing passengers in commuter taxis around Jinja

Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police in Jinja city has arrested four suspects whom they accuse of robbing passengers during transit in commuter vehicles.

The suspects who were arrested include; Saleh Balamya, Moran Kampi, Rodgers Magoola and Najib Mulindwa.

The suspects reportedly hire different commuter taxis from their unsuspecting colleagues, camouflage as drivers and conductors before robbing personal belongings from passengers.

Their arrest follows a complaint by Zaituni Nandase, a resident of Bugembe ward who was traveling from Wairaka to Jinja town on Friday.

Nandase says that on arriving at the police barracks on Friday afternoon, the men who had sharp instruments directed passengers to surrender all the money they had in their possession. “When we arrived at the police barracks round about, the conductor who had a knife in his hands directed all of us to surrender our money and I remember giving him 150,000 Shillings,” says Nanduse.

The Jinja central police station commander Mourice Niyonzima confirms the incident adding that the suspects and others still at large are found of waylaying passengers along the Jinja-Kamuli and Jinja-Iganga highways respectively during hours when there is minimal traffic along the city’s major roads.

Niyonzima says that the suspects who are being detained at Jinja central police station will face charges of theft and aggravated robbery.

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