West Nile truck drivers lose millions to thugs

Arua: Truck drivers along the Arua-Nebbi highway have asked the government to consider rehabilitating the road from Arua to Nebbi to minimize theft cases along the road.

This follows a new wave of thugs who have stolen property worth millions from the trucks moving at night from buses or cargo vehicles.

Speaking to Swaibu Mukibi, a truck driver who operates from Kampala to the central Nile business center in Arua City, says if the government considers working on the road, the thugs will have no option for stealing from their trucks.

He says they have taken advantage of the potholes in some areas, such as Arivu, Enzeva, and Ocoko, among others, because the drivers slow down due to bad roads and the thugs use the chance of climbing on the vehicles to steal property.

Police have promised to crackdown the notorious highway thugs targeting night buses and trucks along Arua-Nebbi road.

Speaking to the media, Collins Asea, the acting public relations officer for the West Nile region, says they have so far arrested three individuals in connection with the highway robbery.

The three include Ondoma Samuel, Matua Christopher, and Orodriyo Benson; however, police are still hunting for more suspects.

The arrested were given exhibits, which the police are to present in court as evidence.

The exhibits were got from their stores in Onduparaka.

However, Asea says that the youth want to get quick money without work, which is a cause of highway thuggery.

The victims of the thuggery are mainly bus passengers and, at times, traders who transport their merchandise from Kampala to Arua on trucks.

Vincent Anjiku, one of the victims, has so far lost his luggage on a California bus twice—in August and early this month.

Anjiku lost a sack of shoes, bags, dozens of boxers, and football jerseys, which he was intending to sell at Arua Hawker in Arua City.

Denis Ochama, the West Nile region police, has expressed disappointment in the local leaders, whom he said are not supporting police in identifying the suspects known to them.

The theft cases along Arua, Nebbi, and Pakwach roads had taken center stage in areas of Nyaravur, Ocoko, and Enzeva during 2021 and 2022.

They were however cracked down by security operatives.

In the new wave of highway thuggery, the thugs enter in the boots of moving buses and others climb on top of the cargo vehicles as they are moving during the night hours.

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