Wakiso, Uganda | URN | Two police officers who were on duty during the Saturday 22, October 2022 raid on the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Grace Akullo’s house have been arrested. Akullo has been the country’s director of Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) for eleven years and recently took over as director of the International Police (Interpol) in Uganda.
The intruders gained illegal entry into Akullo’s house in Kira, Wakiso district, in the wee hours of Saturday 22nd morning where they curiously only picked a TV flat-screen after the elaborate operation to gain access into the residence of the country’s top investigator which was under armed guard.
Although earlier reports indicated that a police officer in the inner ring repulsed the thugs who entered right inside the house (where the AIGP herself was) a few minutes before 4 am, sources now say that the two police officers did not see what happened and were informed about the attack after they had withdrawn from their duty station at around 8 am.
Sources have intimated to this publication that the CCTV cameras captured the thugs confidently scaling over the perimeter wall despite knowing that there were security lights exposing their movements. The attackers penetrated Akullo’s home via the kitchen window, stepped on the sink, and dropped inside the house. However, what is perturbing security is the fact that all this happened when the two Police officers on duty were in deep sleep.
“It looks like these thugs first surveyed the home and marked the weakest point to access,” a source said.
They even came with a very small person who could fit in the kitchen window and we suspect they had already planned all this. Imagine madam noticed this in the morning when the two police guards had handed over daytime duty to their colleagues. They didn’t hear, see or detect anything as this was happening,” sources said.
This publication has learned that police’s alert squad commander SSP Ashraf Chemonges, Kira Road Division police commander Abbas Senyonjo, and Kampala Metropolitan CID commander Bob Kagarura swiftly recalled the police guards back to the scene to explain how the attack was successfully conducted in their presence.
“When the two police guards were brought back to the home, they said they didn’t hear or see anything. They all said they were asleep. It is not clear whether they were drowsed or it was connivance. They have been at this place for five months and that time is more than enough to know the strategic points to guard.”
Efforts to speak to Senyonjo were futile as his known contact was off. However, SSP Chemonges referred our reporter to KMP CID boss SSP Kagarura who also did not pick up the call nor respond to text messages.
Sources say that from reviewing the CCTV footage, it has been established that the invaders were four in number, assigned themselves roles with one keeping watch over the sleeping police guards, another manning the outer ring while two scaled over the perimeter wall.
Another puzzling thing security has so far established is that the police director and her husband were awake and the lights were on. It is also said that the AIGP heard some sounds but did not bother much since she was already into her morning prayers.
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“The confidence these people exhibited shows they were very determined to respond to anyone who could have attempted to disrupt their mission. How would one attack a home that is guarded, a home of a senior security officer, and more so when seeing the lights on in various bedrooms?,” sources said.
Akullo’s home is just a stone’s throw from a police booth that was introduced to deal with criminality in the area. In addition, the area has a detachment of Local Defence Unit (LDU) soldiers who conduct foot patrols. In addition, the route the thugs used has lights mounted on neighbours’ homes and buildings on both sides.
A senior security officer said, “We suspect that they took a flat screen to show that they had accessed the home with no hindrance but it was not a mere robbery. There were very many things like subwoofers, and home theatre but all these were not taken. We thank God that madam remained praying and did not come to check what was happening. We believe she would have been attacked.”
Efforts to speak to AIGP Akullo were fruitless as she did not pick up nor return our calls.
