Gulu resident held for attempted arson

Benon Oringa, a resident of Kanyagoga A village in Bar Dege Division in Gulu Municipality is in trouble for attempting to torch the residence of his uncle using petrol.

Oringa was arrested at around 11:40 am on Christmas Eve with a pack of matches and eight liters of petrol near his uncle's residence in Lacor.

He told police that waylaid him in his uncle's backyard that he was going to attack, Johnson Ochira and his entire family over a land feud that has gone on for five years.

Oringa accused his uncle of killing his two siblings over the said piece of land.

He recorded a statement at Gulu Central Police Station this morning, saying Ochira keeps threatening his life over the disputed piece of land.

Patrick Jimmy Okema, the Aswa River Region police spokesperson, said Oringa is being held at Gulu Central Police to answer to charges of attempted arson.

He urged members of the public to report threats to their lives to police instead of taking the law into their hands.

According to Okema, Police deployed at Ochira's residence following a tip off from a crime preventer.

He said the matter is being investigated under police file CRB number 03/25/12/2017.

It is the third case of attempted arson being recorded in Gulu this month.

Last year, five people were torched to death in Koch Goma Sub County in Nwoya district in what is suspected to be land conflict motivated.

Records at Gulu central Police station indicate that most criminal offenses taken to court emanate from land matters that have plagued the region since internally displaced persons returned home in 2009.

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