Kampala, Uganda | URN | A private security guard, Isaac Okello working with Saracen Security Uganda Ltd has been arrested by Kira Road Police Station after being allegedly caught red-handed selling 31 bullets at Shs 2,000 each.
Mr Okello, who has since been slapped with charges of unlawful possession of government stores, was allegedly selling the bullets to Mr Fred Okumu, the operations manager of Jet Tech Security Company.
The suspect is said to have contacted Mr Okumu Monday 10, October 2022 informing him that he had bullets and some bullet magazines he was selling at a giveaway price. Since Mr Okumu had never met Mr Okello, he became suspicious and rushed and alerted officers at Ntinda Police Station that he had received a call from a stranger who was selling bullets and magazines.
The police officers encouraged Mr Okumu to inform the stranger that he was ready to buy the ammunition and tasked him to find him at his office in Minister’s Village in Ntinda township. Mr Okello arrived at Jet Tech Security Company in the evening with a bag containing the bullets and magazines.
Mr Okumu tasked him to open the bag and the negotiations started. It was at that moment that the covert security officers who also first disguised themselves as interested buyers arrested the security guard Mr Okello and handcuffed him. Police realized the 31 bullets included 19 for Sub-Machine Gun (SMG), three for a pistol, one for a Mark4, two for a greener gun, and 2 for pump action.
Mr Okello’s bag also contained eight SMG magazines, three Semi-Automated Rifle (SAR) magazines, and breaking implements that included a grinder, two pliers, two screwdrivers, a hammer, two chisels, a metal cutter, and a rowing machine.
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“He was selling the bullets at Shs 2,000 each while each magazine was going for 10,000. He came with these bullets from his home in Kamanga-Kirombe zone, Makindye division, in Kampala,” a detective said.
Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson confirmed Mr Okello’s arrest, saying that efforts to establish the exact source of the weapons were underway. It has since been established that Mr Okello also had two guns, which police picked up on Tuesday 11, October 2022 from his residence in Kirombe.
When tasked to reveal where he got the bullets and guns since all private guards are directed to keep firearms at any nearby police station, Okello reportedly said he picked them up from a field force unit (FFU) officer he does not know.
