One killed as bomb goes off in Koboko

By Dramadri Federick

One pupil was killed on spot and 6 others seriously injured when a suspected bomb blast hit them in Koboko Municipality on Monday morning.

Victims are pupils of Nile Junior Nursery and primary school located in southern division  Koboko Municipality.

It is alleged that the seven victims of explosion had gone to bathe in a nearby River called River Apa located in Lipa cell, Mengo ward, South Division, Koboko Municipality, and during that time one of them picked a rusted metallic item in the water.

An eye witness told The Second Opinion that  a pupil identified as  Lucky Yasir  hit  the metallic object on a stone to remove the rust,  but it started producing some  sound and smoke. His colleagues after realizing and seeing smoke they advised him to throw it back in the water  but he instead, he dropped it down on  a nearby  stone  adjacent to the stream.

The object exploded immediately, killing one and injuring six.

Dr. Wilson Sanya, the Mayor Koboko Municipality explains that the children thought the grenade was a microphone upon interrogation.

“Children normally  gather themselves  to bathe in Apa River  but this unfortunate one picked the object and thought it was a microphone. So, his attempts to clean it, he saw a small thread on the object and on pulling it, smoke and some sound came out and then he dumped it, forcing the grenade to explode” Said Dr. Wilson Sanya.

Sanya   believes that these dangerous weapons were left by the rebels that were hiding in the region during insurgencies of lord’s resistance army wars and Idi Amin’s time.

West Nile Police Spokesperson Josephine Angucia confirmed the incident but revealed that those in the hospital are improving steadily.

Police identified the dead as Jamal Alege Yasin,  a male juvenile aged 14 years. While the injured are Sharif Rogota of 7 years, Mudashir Raisi aged 10 years, Habibu Roberto aged 10 years, Yusuf Lega Yasin aged 10 years, Hope Yasir and Lucky Yasir, all male juveniles.

Angucia further called upon the public to always report such dangerous objects to nearby security once such metals are sighted.

“We advise parents and guardians to always guide their children to be vigilant and not play with suspicious looking metals which they come across in their communities. We also advice dealers in scrap business to always be careful with the kind of metals they carry to prevent similar incidences. They should instead report suspicious looking metallic items to the nearest police station or any other authority for proper management,” Angucia  said.

A general Inquiry File has been opened at Koboko Central Police Station under GEF 011/2022 as police recovered some  exhibits of the  grenade fragments and blood samples for further management.

Earlier in March 2022 in Madi Okollo district, the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces – UPDF retrieved a Bomb from the mud which had been excavated during road maintenance in Inde town council.

By press time the victims were receiving treatment at Koboko Health Center IV.