A group of heavily armed warriors were sighted along Tapac road on the morning of Friday 24/2/2012. The warriors who were over 20 in number -all with guns, were seen at about 11:00am in a location of about 3 KMs away from Tapac Junction.
They were seen by the DRC/DDG field workers who were heading to Katikekile parish to conduct a dialogue meeting between the Community and Security providers (UPDF).
The suspected thugs, who were following the road heading to Moroto side, scattered off into the jungle immediately on seeing the NGO vehicle. The vehicle moved on slowly and proceeded since it was too abrupt and there was no more space and time to turn and drive back.
However, half of an hour after the incident, a boda-boda businessman who was from Moroto town riding to Tapac following the DDG car was reportedly stopped by the gang and robbed off his merchandise before setting him free.
Another NGO worker of Warrior Squared Foundation who was also following riding a motorcycle survived the attack as the army had already learnt of the gangs and were following them up. The Warrior Squared worker was alerted by the UPDF.
This incident comes hardly a week after Two armed warriors (two men, both had guns) were sighted at the first river after Kodonyo junction still in Moroto at 3: 30 PM. The gunmen jumped off the road into the bush on seeing a DDG staff that was coming from Tapac riding a motorcycle. This was on Thursday 16/2/2012.
The same gang was also cited by a boda boda man coming from the same direction. The warriors, according to the cyclist stopped in the middle of the road and when he (the boda man) also stopped, they slide off in the bush before the riders sped off crossing the river with a lot of terror. This case was reported to the army detach in Musas.
The latest information coming from the UPDF in Tapac detach indicates that one of the warriors who were actually three in number was apprehended and is under investigations currently.
This thus, is a caution to the NGO workers and other travellers; business people and tourists to be on the alert while travelling on Tapac road. This season is that of nomads searching for burnt grass and animals to be raided. They can be injurious to the innocent road users any time!
