The Police in Katakwi have in custody one of their own for shooting dead a civilian. Police identified the suspect as John Bosco Lotiang who is attached to the Anti-Stock Theft Unit-ASTU detach in Ngariam Sub County in Katakwi district.
According to Michael Odongo, the East Kyoga Regional Police Spokesperson, Lotiang is in trouble for shooting to death 65-year-old Moses Ikabat, a resident of Oturukan village in Osabot parish on Wednesday night.
Details indicate that Lotiang shot Ikabat when he came out of his house to check on his goats that were making noise. The Katakwi Resident District Commissioner and Chairperson of the Security Committee Hussein Kibaso, told the press today, that night ASTU personnel were on the fateful night conducting patrols in the area, which is still experiencing cattle raids by Karimojong warriors.
The police then advanced to Ikabat’s home, when they heard some noise prompting him to run away. As a result, Lotiang opened fire shooting him on the head thinking that he was a cattle thief.
"When that happened, I ordered for the immediate arrest of John Bosco Lotiang who shall be produced in court on charges of murder" Kibaso explained.
He added that "the ASTU administration has been tasked to meet all the burial costs." This incident has drawn angry reactions from members of the public, saying it was unnecessary for police to fire at unarmed civilian.
According to John Francis Otude, the Ngariam Sub County LC3 chairperson, the deceased's relatives believe he was deliberately shot.