The director of Citizens of Hope primary school, Fredrick Ngobi is one of the suspects who were on Sunday killed by an angry mob after allegedly attempting to steal ‘mercury’ in Buyende district.
Ngobi was killed alongside his friend Julius Kiirya with whom they allegedly jointly hatched a plan of hiring gunmen to surround the home of 70-year-old, Mutwaire Bamwegombye, a resident of Busiike village, in Buyende district and then rob ‘mercury’ from him.
It is reported that the duo stormed Mutwaire’s house on Sunday and asked him to surrender all the mercury in his possession. But Mutwaire tricked them, and upon entering his bedroom, he called his friends who rushed to his home within a twinkle of an eye.
Mutwaire says that upon noticing the raging crowds, the gunmen fled in a saloon car, abandoning Ngobi and Kiirya in the hands of the angry mob.
Mutwaire grinds rocks and mixes them with tar extracted from pine trees, coupled with other materials to design ornaments, which his grandchildren collect and ferry for sale in Kampala. However, early this year, there were rumours that he was extracting mercury from the neighbouring Kagulu rock, mixing it in ornaments.
Earlier, district leaders and security teams conducted a search in his house and discovered ground rock powder heaped in old jerrycans. Mutwaire suspects that the group of attackers might have worked on the rumours to storm his home.
Busoga North police spokesperson Michael Kasadha says that the deceased have been taken to Kamuli hospital mortuary for postmortem. Kasadha also challenged the public to desist from engaging in mob justice because this frustrates efforts of bursting criminal gangs.
