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Mayuge, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A seven-day hunt for a fuel truck that was hijacked at gunpoint at Magamaga in Mayuge district has ended after it was recovered by the Flying Squad Unit (FSU) and the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) enforcement team.
Unknown armed thugs waylaid the truck on October 23 at around 9 p.m. and forced its driver Douglas Odyek 39, and his turn man Emmanuel Okello 26, to change their destination. The duo was driving a truck with registration number UAT 093W loaded with 34,000 liters of diesel.
Odyek said that the robbers intercepted them using a Toyota Wish. He added that the robbers let them drive for a very few meters off the main road and then directed them to disembark. “We’re from Kenya heading to Fort Portal. When we reached Wandhago village, Magamaga along the Iganga- Kampala highway, we were intercepted by armed who were about five. They took the truck and its fuel as well our mobile phones,” Odyek reportedly said in a statement.
After being dumped in an unknown place, Odyek and Okello asked the locals who directed them to Mayuge police which later notified its Iganga counterparts. The robbery was then alerted to the Flying Squad Unit and URA enforcement team.
Police quickly retrieved the Closed Circuit Television –CCTV footage in towns where the fuel truck had passed up to the spot where it could no longer be seen proceeding to Kampala. After concluding that the truck had not gone past Jinja City, FSU, URA, and major police stations in Busoga started a search at all fuel stations including prominent garages.
It was recovered at Mile Mbili in Jinja North Division. However, the fuel had already been offloaded. Police arrested two suspects who revealed that the fuel had been offloaded at JAFRA fuel station on Kubiri-Kamuli road.
“We proceeded to JAFRA fuel station and apprehended Henry Ashaba the station manager and Anitah Katono a pump attendant. We were tipped that the duo participated in the offloading of the fuel and perhaps knew about the crime,” FSU said in the report.
URA and FSU found that 500 liters of diesel fuel had already been sold to unsuspecting drivers. The remaining fuel totaling 33,500 litres of diesel was recovered before Ashaba and Katono were taken to Jinja Central Police Station.
Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, said FSU has arrested more suspects and they are still hunting for others. Enanga warned criminals planning to hijack goods in transit to refrain before they land into trouble.
“We want to reassure all transporters of goods along the Mbale-Iganga – Kampala highway that efforts are in place to crack the entire criminal gang that was terrorizing them. The arrest of the suspects demonstrates our commitment and resolve to rid the transport sector of criminality,” Enanga said.
Efforts to speak to URA Spokesperson, Ibrahim Bbosa, for more details were futile as he did not pick up our calls. However, police are worried that hijacking goods in transit could turn into a copy-cut crime. This is after another fuel truck was hijacked two days earlier and it was also recovered with its fuel intact in Luweero district.
In the same period, unknown assailants moving in a Toyota Hiace commonly known as a Drone waylaid a Toyota Wish in Luweero carrying eight gold packs valued at 8 billion shillings. To date, the gold hasn’t been recovered and no suspect has been apprehended. The gold belonged to Arua Refinery Limited.
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