At least four police escorts who were injured in a bomb blast on the motorcade of Principal Judge Dr Flavian Zeija, are detained at Nsambya police barracks.
Dr Zeija’s convoy was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Kalandezi village in Mpigi district last Saturday. Although police and sister security agencies indicate that the escorts and Zeija’s vehicles had minor pockmarks, URN has been informed that four police guards were injured by the fragments.
A police source has identified the injured and detained police officers as Assistant Inspector of Police -AIP Opiris the crew commander whose legs were affected by bomb components that include nails, iron bar pieces and broken bottles, Sargent Tumusiime, Police Constable -PC Mawa and PC Vuchiri.
The quartet are attached to the Very Important Persons Protection Unit (VIPPU) based in Nsambya police barracks. The VIPPU is under the commandant of Commissioner of Police Hadijah Namutebi.
“It is unfortunate that our colleagues are in custody despite having sustained injuries in the bomb blast. They are not receiving the necessary treatment and they don’t know when they will be set free,” a policeman said.
Nevertheless, Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, did not respond to our inquiries about the fate of detained escorts. But their colleagues who have accessed them and read through their files under Professional Standards Unit (PSU) commanded by Assistant Commissioner of Police Sarah Kibwika, said they are being charged with neglect of duty.
“We don’t know how police escorts who were in the same convoy would be charged with neglect of duty. A bomb was an abrupt occurrence and we believe these police escorts had little to prevent it. We have tried to raise the matter to the VIPPU commandant but we are being told that it is an order from above,” police source said.
Dr Zeija’s incident was first reported as an assassination attempt by gunmen moving on motorcycles at around 8:30pm on Saturday.
But the specialised team from police and army realised that it was not a shooting incident but an IED hidden under the road guard rail which was detonated at the time Zeija’s convoy was passing.
“We have since established that the attack on the convoy, was instead as a result of an improvised explosive device, planted on the road side, below the guard rail, at a remote location, in Kalandezi village.
The task team recovered a variety of IED components that included; shattered detonator parts, pieces of wire, cut pieces of iron bars, shattered aluminium pieces, and metal fragments, all designed to increase the amount of shrapnel propelled by the explosive device,” Enanga said.
Charles Rwomushana, a renowned security analysts and former government spy chief, said he would be surprised that a bomb that damage a road guard rail would fail to injure the escorts who were on the exposed vehicle.