Ten people missing after Amuru-Adjumani boundary violence

At least ten people are reported to be missing following the chaos that marred Apaa parish Amuru district two weeks ago where security oficials were deployed to man the planting of mark stones to demarcates Amuru and Adjumani districts boundaries.
Five people were shot at in the clash and 21 others sustained minor injuries while scampering for their lives as Police and Army used live bullets and tear gas to disperse angry locals who protested the demarcation exercise.
The injured residents included Mr Felix Tabia Opiyo, 26, Mr Jacob Jenaro Okumu were shot in their right hands that have since been amputated from St Mary’s Hospital Lacor where they are still admitted.
Others are Mr Gabriel Okumu and Ms Grace Aciro sustained minor gunshot wounds in their ears while Ms Bazilio Olweny 29 who was allegedly hit on the head using a gun butt still lies unconscious at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
A total of 35 people were also arrested by Police following the land violence and jailed at Gulu Central Prison on Wednesday last week.
Government land surveyors last week planted mark stones at the disputed Apaa land to demarcate the 40 Sq km land claimed by Amuru and Adjumani district.
Area LCI of Apaa parish Mr Maurian Abola during a meeting convened in Apaa trading center last weekend and attended by opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) from other regions acknowledged that locals had raised questions of their missing persons to him.
“We still have many people who are missing at the moment; their relatives have submitted their names to us to find out their where about. We don’t have any clue on where these people are,” Mr Abola said.
Mr Michael Lakony, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Chairperson Amuru, who had been following up with the missing persons confirmed to Acholi Times in an interview
on Thursday that a total of ten people could not be traced ever since the shootings in Apaa parish.
Mr Lakony said he and a team of legal experts accompanied by the area woman MP Amuru, Ms Lucy Akello visited St Mary’s Hospital Lacor and Gulu Central Prison where 35 people were jailed but they didn’t find the missing persons.
“At the moment we still don’t know where these people are, they are either alive or dead. Their relatives have told us they were at home on the day the security forces were firing bullets but have since gone missing,” says Mr Lakony.
He said urgent investigations into the where about of those missing needs to be conducted to ascertain where they are.
“There are many people, who are now traumatized within the community; they are worried of their loved ones who are missing. We shall not rest until we find them,” said Mr Lakony.
Over the weekend. MPs who included Medard Sseggona (Busiro County), Mr Muwanga Kivumbi (Butambala County), Ms Ibi Ekwau, Kaberamaido Woman MP and Roland Mugume (Rukungiri municipality), and UPC party President Olara Otunnu who visited Apaa promised to report to parliament  the brutality meted on the residents.
The legislators had visited the area to gather evidence and testimonies of armed forces brutalizing the locals, and the reports of people who were missing and alleged to be dead.
Those who are believed to be missing have been identified as, Wilberforce Kitara, Samuel Oola, Denis Oryema, Helen Akello, Stephen Okello, Sunday Lubangakene and Florence Ayaa while others have only been identified as Muzungu, Komakech and Boy.
Aswa Regional Police commander, Mr Patrick Jimmy Okema when contacted on Thursday said the allegations of the missing persons were based on politics orchestrated by the leaders in the area.
“At first they we heard that four people were missing according to reports by the Acholi Religious Leaders who had earlier visited the area. Now to hear that ten people are missing, this is not right,” says Mr Okema.
He added that the Police had been open to the locals to report about their missing ones but none did so making them to think its propaganda started by some leaders.
Mr Okema also denied that Police used live bullets to shoot at the locals arguing that those whose hands were amputated had attempted to throw back a teargas canister shot at them that later exploded in their hands.
Local leaders in Amuru district over the past years been alleging that Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) had sold the disputed land to an investor identified as Mr Bruce Martins to set up a sports hunting facility while claiming the land is in East Madi game reserve.