A group of residents of Yumbe district accused of raiding and torturing residents of Kali in Itula Sub County had been charged with terrorism and malicious damage to property. The suspects appeared on Wednesday before Gabriel Nyipir, the Moyo chief magistrate. Nyipir didn’t allow the suspects to enter any plea saying that case against them was above the jurisdiction of the magistrate’s court.
He therefore remanded the suspects to Openzinzi government prison until July 25th when their case will come up for mention. Trouble for the suspects started on July 7th when they raided Kali area in Itula Sub County in the wee hours of the morning. The group that was allegedly armed with machetes, bows, arrows, spears and an AK 47 allegedly tortured residents accusing them of illegally settling on their land.
They hacked six people and also robbed property such as motorcycles, bicycles and destroyed several crop gardens. As a result, police swung in action and arrested 16 people, but some were released after investigation showed that they were not part of the attack. On Wednesday, prosecution told court that investigations into the incident are still ongoing, adding that some of the suspects are still on the run.
Court also heard that police was still trying to find the AK47 rifle that was used by the suspects is still missing. Gabriel Nyipir, the Moyo chief magistrate asked the prosecution to speed up the investigation to allow his court deal with the cases of torture and malicious damage to property. The communities in Itula and their neighbors from Yumbe clashed several times since the beginning of this year.
