Relatives dump body of 17-year-old at Prisons Office over alleged torture

Arua: A section of aggrieved relatives of the late Afeku Felix, 17, on Thursday, September 5, 2024 dumped his dead body at Uganda Prison Service regional headquarters in Arua city.

This comes after Uganda Prisons failed to meet the demands of transportation of his dead body to Rhino camp and meet the burial expenses.

Afeku and Andruga were allegedly tortured by the prison wardens on Tuesday morning when they had gone to fetch drinking water from a nearby well after Afeku had developed a heartburn.

Earlier on Wednesday, residents of the prison cell in Kenya Ward Arua Central Division stormed the office of the resident city commissioner, Arua Salim Komaketch, following the death of a juvenile, Afeku Felix, allegedly killed by prison wardens on Tuesday morning.

According to one of the victims, Andruga Gerald, who survived and was under medication, while in bed, the brother Afeku felt heartburn as a result of ulcers and told him to accompany him to the nearby water point.

As they were coming back from the water point, they were surrounded by three armed security personnel who handcuffed them on theft allegations and marched to Arua prison.

They were beaten, and later Afeku, who was in a coma, was taken to the Arua regional referral hospital, while Andruga was taken to the Arua central police station.

Emile John, an uncle to the deceased, has dragged Uganda prison officers to police and demands explanation on why they have killed his nephew.

He says his son Andruga and nephew late Afeku have been staying together at his saloon, which is next to the prison’s primary school.

He wants the prisons to foot the burial expenses. Vuni Benson, a resident of a prison cell, blames the prison wardens for taking law into their hands.

According to him, this is not the first incident, but other similar incidents happened previously.

Vuni said another 17-year-old boy in the name of Yuma Faruk was allegedly killed by prison wardens as he was coming back from Eid Day celebrations on Eid Day.

He says they are to have a meeting as youth in prison cells in relation to the killing happening in the area.

However, when contacted, Ndori Leni, the regional prison commander, West Nile, refuted the allegations that the prison officers beat the victims.

‘’The two boys were being chased from Ediofe, and the prison wardens responded to the alarm,’’ he adding that “My officers responded to the noise and alarm that was coming from Ediofe side, and when those who were chasing the boys saw prison wardens, they ran away, leaving two boys down. My officers carried them to the hospital, and that is why they are blamed, and the scene of the crime was in the fenced area.”

However, when our reporter visited the scene, it was discovered that the water point is not within the fence of prisons, as alleged in the speech by the prisons regional commander.

Failure to adhere to the family demands of transporting the dead body to Abiri village in Rhino Camp subcounty, Madi Okollo district, residents and family members of the deceased carried and dumped the dead body to the prisons regional offices and told them to use the body the way they want.

The incident brought panic among the people and the district officials, and by press time, an emergency meeting was going on in the office of the resident city commissioner to forge away. forward.

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