By Terrence Alur
The army yesterday destroyed a grenade found by a construction in the ceiling of a house undergoing renovation on plot 9/11 along Adrea Olal road in Gulu town.
The ‘‘pinless’’ grenade was destroyed by soldiers from the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) Field Tactical Engineering Experts.
The oval shaped, five millimeter grenade was destroyed at 2 pm behind the former Uchumi building in Bardege division after it was relocated from the building where it had been found.
The bomb was discovered by an identified carpenter in the ceiling of a house he was working on. The carpenter immediately alerted his supervisor one, Geoffrey Komakech, who in turn alerted the police.
Residents and offices evacuated their staff from the 8 roomed-building, as a Centenary Bank Auto Teller Machine (ATM) booth, also located on the same building, was closed for the better part of the day.
Mr Geoffrey Oyaa, a staff of Pax Insurance agency said they were forced to close their offices after they heard that a grenade was discovered in the building.
“We could not continue working when he heard that an explosive had been found by one of the workers. That is why we heard to vacate our offices as soon as possible with our clients.” Mr Oyaa said.
One of the tenants, Ms Moreen Mutesi who was returning from her work place rushed to rescue her two young children for fear that they could be harmed.
Gulu District Police Commander, Martin Okoyo, who alerted the UPDF after the discovery of the grenade said it was in a dangerous state since it was already pinless.
The 4th division barracks spokesman Lt. Ahmad Hassan Kato cautioned the public against linking the incident to terrorism adding that a joint investigation with the police will be conducted to find out how the grenade ended up in the ceiling board of the building.
Lt Kato appealed to the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious looking object to the authorities.
