A total of 35 residents of Apaa village in Pabbo Sub-county Amuru district were last week arrested and remanded to Gulu Central Prison over protesting the boundary demarcation exercise between Amuru and Adjumani district.
The residents who appeared before the Gulu Grade one Magistrate, Mr Paul Owino were charged with three counts of unlawful assembly, causing riots and malicious damages of government properties.
Police on Monday arrested the locals on allegations that some of them unlawfully assembled to protest the erection of mark stones by government surveyors to demarcate the disputed 40 sqr Kilometer land while others vandalized the Zoka and Korobi Bridges in Adjumani district.
While appearing before the Grade one Magistrate on Wednesday afternoon, the accused residents denied the charges that were read to them by Mr Owino.
The Magistrate however asked the suspects for their sureties for bail applications but none of them could do so prompting Mr Owino to remand them to prison.
Mr Owino adjourned the case until October 2, 2015 when eight of the suspects will appear in court while 27 other accused suspects will also reappear on the 28th of the same month respectively for hearing into their cases.
Resident State Attorney, Mr Ponsiano Okello in his submission to the magistrate however said the files of the accused suspects were not yet ready for hearing and asked for more time until their files are ready after thorough investigations.
Aswa Regional Police Commander, Mr Wilson Kwanya while speaking to Apaa Parish residents on Wednesday in a meeting organized by Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) acknowledged that the Police had arrested over 30 locals over damaging government properties.
“It’s true these people have been arrested, they were first detained at Adjumani district before they were transferred to Gulu district where they faced the court for the crimes they committed,” says Mr Kwanya.
Amongst those arrested where individuals who vandalized government properties and incited their fellow colleagues to close their shops on unclear grounds, adds Mr Kwanya.
Acholi religious and Political leaders however during a Wednesday dialogue meeting condemned the acts of the armed forces towards the arrest of the locals and detention of the Kilak County Member of Parliament who was arrested by police on allegations of inciting violence.
The leaders had made eight key resolutions amongst which was the unconditional release of Mr Olanya nd those arrested and the withdrawal of armed forces from the contentious Amuru land.
Mr Olanya was later released on Thursday after the Amuru Grade one Magistrate Mr Edward Okot granted him a cash bail of Shs 1.5 million in recognition of the six sureties who were given a non cash bail of Shs 2 million each for the three counts of charges against Olanya.
The contentious Amuru-Adjumani boundary was however demarcated on Tuesday by the government amidst protest from the locals that led to the shooting of five residents.
Some of those remanded included Jimmy Ocii 17, Michael Ebogo 24, Geoffrey Komakech 27, Richard Oula 24, Joshua Omara 38, Bazil Odongo 17, Godfrey Ocaya 19, and John Paul Ojara 22 among others.
1 Comment
We demand the release of all those people. What is wrong with protesting against the inappropriate land demarcation? They were PROVOKED by the government. It is not their fault.