Police are pursuing kidnappers of a child who are demanding Shs7m ransom for her freedom. The Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, yesterday confirmed the pursuit by Katwe Police Station.
He said the police in Nyanama Zone, Rubaga Division in Kampala, received a complaint from Ms Grace Athieno, the child’s mother, claiming some unknown people had raided her home on Saturday night, grabbed and carried off her three-year-old daughter, and were demanding Shs7m for her release.
‘The detectives visited the scene and recorded several statements from the house occupants, and investigations are ongoing,’ Mr Owoyesigyire said. He said no suspect has been arrested.
Ms Athieno said she left home for work on Friday and left her daughter and three other children with their sister-in-law, Ms Catherine Abbo. Ms Abbo told the police that some unknown people stormed the home at night, knocked on the doors and windows, and ordered them to open. She said upon opening, a group of three ladies and four men entered the house and demanded to see Mr Denis Opendi, and his wife, Athieno. Ms Abbo told police that on realising the duo was not in the house, the strangers grabbed the child and carried her away.
Ms Athieno told this publication yesterday that the suspected kidnappers called her husband demanding Shs7m for the release of their daughter. Mr Owoyesigyire said the case could be linked to a tours and travel company that parents worked for in Nyanama and was linked to labour export overseas. He said the demand for ransom could be connected with money paid for unmet promises for work abroad. Mr Owoyesigyire said the police are looking for Mr Opendi to record a statement as investigations continue. This is the fifth kidnap case being reported at Katwe Police Station in less than three months.
Background
From 2018, cases of kidnap dropped after the highly publicised case of Susan Magara, the then cashier of Bwendeiro Dairy Farm, who was held captive for three weeks as her kidnappers demanded Shs3.6b. Police records show that 401 cases of child abduction and kidnap were reported in 2019, with 382 reported in 2020, and another 291 cases recorded in 2021.