A boda boda motorist in Gulu municipality has been killed by suspected iron bar hit men.
23-year- old Denis Opiyo, a resident of Layibi Central Zone and boda-boda rider at Standbic bank stage met his death on Tuesday night.
Information reaching this website indicates that residents found Opio's lifeless body lying in a flower garden in front of a residential apartment in Olayoilong cell this morning, few meters off Sir Samuel Baker road.
Residents say they heard three loud distressing wails at about midnight but they disappeared shortly. They believe the deceased was wrestling his attackers who made off with his motorbike.
The assailants are also believed to have searched their victim as they pulled his jeans trouser to his knees. According to Patrick Jimmy Okema, the Aswa River Region Police Public Relation Officer, police has recovered a log believed to have been used to kill Opio.
Peter Otim, the Custom Corner Village chairperson, says this is the second murder being recorded around the junction. He says another motorcyclist was found dead in March this year while another escaped with injuries. Otim worked with a group of youth including Boda Boda officials to clear the flower garden, saying criminals take advantage of the darkness in the area to pounce on residents.
Godfrey Ojok, the Deputy Secretary Gulu Boda Boda Association, says the murder is a grim reminder, which triggers fresh fear that hit men could have returned to haunt them ahead of independence festivities.
Ojok says at the peak of iron bar hitmen, the Boda Boda Association restricted activities of motorists to major streets at night, adding that some cyclists were moving in pairs to counter attacks.