PADER — Security forces on Thursday arrested a suspected suicide bomber who was allegedly planning to blow up mourners at the funeral of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Paul Lokech.
The Uganda People’s Defence Force spokesperson, Brig Flavia Byekwaso in a statement on Friday morning said the suspect identified as Katumba Abdul was found with an assortment of home bomb making materials including bomb carrier bags, assembled bombs, ball bearings and detonators among other items.
She said investigations for indicate that the suspect had intent of disrupting the funeral proceedings of Lokech.
She said other suspects connected to the same event arr still at large but have positively been identified.
Byekwaso said that the suspects started planning for their mission right from Kampala, where their aim was to attack the mourners at the deceased’s Kitikifumba-based residence during the funeral service that was held on Wednesday.
“When our joint intelligence team became suspicious of them, they started trailing them until they netted them in one of the hotels in Pader district on Thursday morning,” Byekwaso said.
According to the UPDF spokesperson, the attacker wanted to revenge on the people who were mourning the deceased’s death having suppressed the Al Shabaab extremists and their associates in Somalia.
Lokech first commanded in Somalia in 2011 and left in 2012.
He again bounced back in 2017 and left in 2018 after flashing the terrorists out of Mogadishu.
Due to his successful mission in Somalia, the Lokech became to be commonly known as ‘The Lion of Mogadishu’.
The preliminary investigations indicate that upon searching his Katumba’s room, security seized a suicide jacket and other explosives which were going to be used in the attack.
Byekwaso said security is also planning to retrieve the CCTV footages from the cameras at the residence of Lokech in Kira, as well as his neigbouring areas to ascertain the movements of the perpetrators.
Lokech will be buried today (Friday) in his home district of Pader.
