{UAH} Uganda: Inside the Killer 'One-Minute Gang'
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Uganda: Inside the Killer 'One-Minute Gang'
BY ZURAH NAKABUGO, 23 FEBRUARY 2014ASP Bigirwa, in charge of Kajjansi police station, was shot when he tried to foil a robbery at a nearby fuel station. In a statement availed to The Observer at the weekend, police said that after Bigirwa's killing, the Flying Squad Unit declared "a temporary shut-down to all other services and focused the whole operation on the cessation of the One-minute gang effective 15th February 2014."
Unit commander Charles Kataratambi said in the statement that police already had some information on robberies by the same group in Iganga.
"There was already in custody one Isma Bwire who was their (gang's) direct associate and it was the same Bwire that was interrogated and led to the arrest of the thugs," the statement said.
In an interview at the weekend, Kataratambi provided more useful insights about the gang of robbers in town.
What does operation "One-minute gang" mean?
Operation "One-minute gang" is the new system which notorious thugs had developed to rob any installation within one minute before police is alerted.
When was the gang formed?
It was formed on January 4, with three guns but they planned to get 16 guns to rob Shs 700m from Bwayuya sugar factory in Kaliro district. They got information that this factory had Shs 700m to pay sugarcane farmers and were planning to rob them. How do they operate and where?
This is a big group combined of thugs from South Sudan, Congo and Uganda especially those who have been released from prisons over robbery. Their commander Rahman Doka recruits them and organises them to rob supermarkets, mobile money centres, petrol stations and vehicles.
He gives them guns and trains them to rob within one minute or kill anybody who tries to disrupt their mission. After a robbery, they take the money to Rahman and he pays them. They use ladies to monitor the places they plan to rob.
How did you know all this?
We were informed; we arrested the ladies and they confessed. These ladies also linked us to the arrest of other suspects who were hiding in Iganga, Mbale, Mbarara and Kampala. One of the suspects, Oroma David Opio, who was shot by Bigirwa during the robbery, was arrested from Hoima hospital where he had gone for treatment. He deceived doctors that he was attacked by robbers who shot him and robbed his motorcycle.
How were they linked to the Kajjansi robbery?
They confessed to have killed Joseph Bigirwa and we also recovered guns from them. The shells from the guns we found with them are similar with the shells we recovered from the scene where Bigirwa was murdered. Even one of the suspects who was shot by Bigirwa during the robbery was arrested and he confessed.
Where do they get the guns from?
We highly suspect that they get them from South Sudan since their commander Rahman Doka, a Ugandan, has been staying in South Sudan and was wanted by police in Gulu after robbing a supermarket. The guns which we recovered from them had South Sudan imprints. Our guns here are clearly marked. The gun used in Bigirwa's murder was from South Sudan.
Are you saying that organised criminals are getting a foothold in Kampala?
No, these robberies have just started and we broke them down before they spread, by arresting 90 per cent of the suspects especially their ringleaders.
Who are the ringleaders of the gang?
1. Kabugo Dan (Ugandan), perennial robber released from Luzira prison last December.
2. Tamale Lukwago (Ugandan), perennial robber recently released from Luzira prison last December.
3. Doka Rahman (Ugandan) a recent returnee from South Sudan.
4. Juma Salim, (South Sudanese).5. Oroma David alias Opio (father Sudanese and mother Ugandan)
6. Byamungu Felexcer (Congolese)
7. Bwire Isma (Ugandan), serial robber, arrested several times for robbery
8. Kamanda Sinan, Ugandan
9. Abudallah Birya, Ugandan
10 Jamila Nampewo, operated in South Sudan until recently
How did you track them down?
We got information from our security operatives in crime intelligence, and used their photographs we got from video footages in the supermarkets and banks they robbed. These helped us to track them and arrest them.
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