STRAY BULLET INJURES BODA BODA RIDERS IN ARUA CITY DURING URA OPERATION

64 years old Erifu Lazarus Odua, father of the 24 year old rider who was allegedly shot in the fracas. All photos by Godwin Abedican
 
By Godwin Abedican
Arua City
 
One person has been left nursing bullet wounds at Arua regional referral hospital following a violence in Arua city involving some irate members of the public and Uganda Revenue Authority enforcement team.
 
The unfortunate incident in the afternoon of Wednesday April 23, 2025, came after the tax body confiscated smuggled contraband cigarettes worth over 120 million Ugandan shillings from a business man in Abiri cell, Yapi ward, Ayivu East Division in Arua city.
 
As they were transporting the goods to the URA offices, other smugglers are said to have quickly mobilized some gang groups who have been identified as the “Air Japan group” (one of the groups known for notorious actions in the city), to trail the URA officials.
 
The gang group began stoning the enforcement team and other security agencies involved in the operation and this escalated leading to gunshots.
 
Unfortunately, one identified as Anguyo Volma Derick, aged 24 years, resident of Tanganyika ended up being caught by a stray bullet around the buttocks which penetrated to his stomach damaging some of his intestines according to his father Erifu Lazurus Odua.
 
“I was told my son had been shot and when I inquired, they told me it happened when the URA had gone to confiscate some smuggled items. It happened when he wanted to run home after gunshots began. In the process of riding away as gunshots were ongoing, he was shot. He is a boda-boda rider and has never been a criminal in anyway. I have been told he was shot and his small intestines got affected though not the big intestines. As a result, he has been bleeding and suffering a lot from pains. I do not know how his condition is going to be,” he said.
 
The father of the man adds that, as a person with disability, he has been put in a fix where he can’t do anything to help his child, “Financially, it got me without any money. And of late I have been suffering from pressure which made me not to work. There is no way I can help the situation since I don’t have any money. I was waiting for some money of mine to be paid and I had planned with this boy to purchase for him some land to venture in to farming alongside the boda-boda work he was doing but now with this I don’t know where to start from. I am worried about how this will end,” he narrated painfully.
 
However, speaking during a press conference on Thursday April 24, 2025 held at the office of the Resident City Commissioner Arua, Tumwesigye Simon, the URA manager for customs enforcement and border control West Nile denies having received any information about URA shooting and injuring someone since a number of security guarded installations were attacked.
 
“No information has come to us. So, we cannot go into that. May be if it is there investigations will take place and we shall find out. We haven’t received anything like that. On our side we did a clean operation and we caused no injury,” he said.
 
Salim Kumakech RCC -Arua (L) and Tumwesigye Simon, URA manager for customs enforcement
and border control West Nile (R) during a press conference after the incident.

Similarly, Salim Kumakech, the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) Arua says that, his office has always been open to the public to report such matters.
 
“I have not yet received any report from the police or any other security agency for that matter. But just like we are saying, anything else is possible that, if you engage security forces in a riotous acts member of the public who are not concerned can unnecessarily become victims and this is what we always want to avoid. When we avoid riots, we shall avoid elements of unsuspecting casualties emanating from confrontation responses and counter-confrontations from the forces and also members of the public. We can always win through dialogue,” Kumakech emphasized.
 
However, the 64 years old Erifu Lazarus says, he will try everything possible to ensure justice is served for his son, “Why I want to pick the police form 3 is because I want the government to be aware of the matter. He was someone innocent, how did he get shot? And according to them, they did not shoot anyone. And how come my boy was injured if they didn’t shoot someone. I am interested in knowing who is going to compensate this boy? Even the hospital bills, what will happen? Including the motorcycle that got lost, what are they going to do? These are the issues I want to be helped in,” Lazarus begged.

Erifu Lazarus in a deep thought.

The Resident City commissioner Arua in response to such occurrences says that, if the right channels are followed and due processes of investigations are done in such matters, his office will always ensure that the law takes its course.
 
By the time of compiling this report, the victim was still at Arua regional referral hospital receiving treatment.