Bodaboda cyclists in Ibanda district have appealed to district leaders and the police to allow them take on the responsibility of hunting for and eliminating criminals that steal their motorcycles and murder their colleagues in the process.
The cyclists made the call in the meeting that was held at Ibanda St Paul’s Church, with the RDC and the District Police Commander
The bodaboda cyclists requested police and the RDC to give them green light to “handle in any way deemed necessary” whoever is caught in bodaboda robbery, even if it means ending that person’s life.
These think that the existing laws and due process is favoring the assailants, as they are apprehended for short period of time and released back into society.
They also told the district leaders that motorcycle robbers, who in most cases kill their victims have stronger connections and tend to bribe themselves out of trouble as their cases never make it out of the State Attorney’s office to court.
The cyclists mentioned that in some instances they have arrested the suspects and taken them to police unharmed, only to be released in a matter of days.
The heated meeting came a day after the burial of a young bodaboda cyclist Alex Kamugisha who was murdered in cold blood last Sunday.
His murder was however linked to a fellow rider boda boda Godfrey Karisa, whose jacket was found with the body, with whom they were last seen together.
In response to these concerns, the DPC Ibanda Denis Ochama advised the bodaboda cyclists to let the police do its work and avoid taking the laws in their hands.