Monitor Online | News | Thugs loot Makerere ICT faculty

UGANDA COMPUTERS STOLEN Monitor Online | News | Thugs loot Makerere ICT faculty:

Thugs loot Makerere ICT faculty

Andrew Bagala

Old Kampala

Police is hunting for thieves who over the Easter weekend entered the Information and Communication Technology faculty at Makerere University and stole computer accessories worth over Shs96 million.

The Police say the burglars did not break into the building but smartly found their way in. The robbery is captured in the Police’s Easter weekend crime statistics.

Kampala Metropolitan Police arrested 285 people on allegations of terrorising the city and its suburbs during the festive season.

Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said the suspects are being held on offences ranging from theft of mobile phones, roguish behaviour and robbery.

“Among the arrested are 18 women and we have already sent their files to the Resident State Attorney for advice,” Ms Nabakooba said yesterday.

On the Makerere robbery, she said, “Suspected thugs entered the fourth and fifth floors of the faculty and made off with 202 Random Access Memory (RAM) chips and 280 processors worth Shs96.4 million.”

RAM is a chip on which data is stored temporality in a computer.
The Police said seven people had been arrested in connection to the incident that happened on Monday at around 9:30pm. They are being held at Wandegeya Police Station.

The seven are Mr Bashir Turyahebwa, an Ultimate Security guard, Mr Charles Komakech, a university guard, Mr Mathias Luhima, a laboratory custodian and four laboratory attendants James Omach, John Bosco Tumusiime, Amos Kagaba and B. Mwesigye.

“The thugs didn’t break in but gained entry peacefully which means they either had master keys or keys to the premises. These thugs also opened the doors of the administrators but didn’t take anything,” Ms Nabakooba said.
She said the Police had not yet recovered the stolen property.

It was not clear what impact this theft had on the operations of the faculty. Efforts to get to the dean and faculty publicist proved futile as none of them could pick their phones.

Despite the university deploying a big number of security guards, the campus has become prone to crimes ranging from theft and office break-ins.

This is the fourth time computer equipment is stolen at the Makerere University in less than a year. The first incident happened in the Faculty of Arts last year.

The crimes forced the Police management to upgrade the university post to a station in order to combat rising crime.

Meanwhile, the Police yesterday arrested 14 people on allegations of carrying out mob action that left three people died in Bujuuko in Wakiso District.

The suspects, including the LC defence secretary George Wamanya, are accused of killing Moses Kimbowa, Ronald Musisi and George Njub, whom they accused of practicing witchcraft.