Two security officers arrested over Makerere University fires

Authorities have arrested two security officers who were on night duty at Makerere University main building on Sunday when it caught fire.

Two security officers arrested over Makerere University fires
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Authorities have arrested two security officers who were on night duty at Makerere University main building on Sunday when it caught fire.

The duo is detained over negligence of duty.

Fred Enanga police spokesperson told Journalists at Uganda Media Center, that preliminary findings indicated that  the duo was supposed to be on the night duty at University Main Building but were sleeping or had absconded given the circumstances surrounding the delay in reporting the incident        

By the time of response, Enanga says the fire had spread to the roof which means the security detail at Makerere was probably absent or could have absconded from duty for them to fail to realize there was smoke coming out from the building.      

According to the police mouthpiece, one of the suspects is a Police officer while the other is a private security guard. Both were supposed to be on duty that night guarding the main building premises. 

Enanga says that upon interrogation, the police officer lied to detectives that he was at his designated place despite the investigations showing otherwise, while the security guard was found sleeping in his guard-post.

“So far we have one police officer in custody who was supposed to be on duty, he claims that he was on duty but according to the interrogation so far, he has absconded duty. We also have a private security guard who was asleep. The whole night the fire was there, they knocked the door trying to open up but it took him hours to wake up” Enanga says.

He added that police has retrieved footage from the fateful night which will be analyzed to tell if anyone accessed the building before the fire started on Sunday night.
The fire that has lasted two days destroyed the main building, one of the oldest structures at the Ivory Tower.

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