The Uganda Police has dismissed rumours that terror alerts issued recently are politically motivated, calling upon citizens to take the alerts seriously to avoid a situation.
Speaking on NBS TV’s morning breeze, SS Bashir Ssempala, the Community Liason Officer for Kampala Metropolitan Police (KMP) urged Ugandans to remain vigilant and suspect everything including their own shadows.
“Terrorism is a global issue. I don’t want to politicize it. We have had terror attacks in Uganda, people were boomed while watching football. This threat is real, we need to take care of ourselves,” he said.
“These terrorists are using local materials, their motive is to cause fear and show that security has failed. We are calling upon members of the public to be vigilant; in fact, suspect your shadow as well,” he added.
SSP Ssempala’s comments come at a time when the National Unity Platform ( NUP) is holding country tours, which has sparked debate that the alerts could be aimed at impeding the tours or discouraging masses from turning up for NUP tours.
However, Ssempala says that security enforcement is not discriminatory, adding that speculation at this point is aimless.
“There’s no selective application of terror controls. These alerts are real, there’s nothing to speculate about. Businesses shouldn’t be closed but we should have some controls.”
Police have said they have recovered five more bombs after the Sunday incident in which an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) was safely detonated at Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral belonging to Pastor Robert Kayanja in Kampala.
According to police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, the arrest of 28-year-old Kintu Abdurahman who was in possession of the IED as he tried to access the church in Rubaga saw security interrogate him for further information on the terror plot.
“Upon interrogation, he identified how his cell was involving six members including himself and we are now searching for other five conspirators who are still at large. The suspect also led us to their two-room rented house in Lungujja Zone eight where we recovered three constructed IEDs that we detonated and recovered ingredients of evidential value,” Enanga said on Monday.
The police spokesperson revealed that two other suspected IEDs have since been recovered in Bunamwaya and at around Mabiito in Nateete and that police counter-terrorism teams are set to detonate them.