NEBBI – Families of eight police officers are currently homeless after fire destroyed their homes and property in Nebbi Police Barracks in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
According to the Nebbi District Police Commander, Mr. Bernard Mugerwa, the fire started at around 2:30 am from one of the houses, whose occupant was not in before it spread to other houses.
He said several boots and uniforms were also burnt by the fire before it was contained.
The homes of Mr. Godwin Onyuthwun, a police driver, and Rogers Namanya, the OC traffic Nebbi Central Police Station, were all destroyed since they were away from duty.
“The fire unit from Arua arrived late due to distance but we managed to stop the fire from spreading further to the whole barracks,” Mr. Mugerwa said.
He added that they are currently compiling a comprehensive report on the matter
Nicolas Natajja, the OC CID Nebbi Police Station says they are currently trying to acquire temporary shelter for the affected officers.
“Namanya and Onyuthwun lost everything, including uniforms and documents. They had travelled to their respective villages,” Nantajja said.
He said the cause of the fire has not yet been established, but the fire investigators are on ground to ascertain its cause. They did not rule out the possibility of an electric short circuit.
“The fire prevention team will find out, but so far, I think our investigation points to electric short circuit,” he said.
West Nile has only one Police fire unit, which is stationed in Arua. It manages fire outbreaks in over eight districts.
