KAMPALA: The police flying squad unit has rescued Hilda Driwalo, a mobile money agent and student at Kampala International University, and arrested six suspects in connection with her kidnapping. A lot of people say that the suspects took Driwalo from Entebbe on Friday last week after they invited her to collect money from her debtors.
They drove her hostage in Kiwempe zone, Makindye division, before calling her brother, Daniel Onzima, and demanding a ransom of UGX 2.3 million paid within two days or else they would kill her sister.
A senior police officer at Kabalagala Police Station who was part of the investigation told URN that the suspect used the victim’s number to reach Onzima. Luckily, he had reported a case here. So it made our work easier. We used advanced technology to track them down, the officer said.
When they went to the suspect’s hideout in Makindye on Sunday night, they teamed up with detectives from Uganda’s Criminal Investigations Directorate, who were also there. They rescued the victim and arrested six people who were suspected of kidnapping her.
He says that they took the kidnapped victim to Mulago National Referral Hospital for a medical checkup before being reunited with her family as they hunted for more suspects. Driwalo’s customer, Fred Enanga, says that one of the suspects was Driwalo’s customer, who hoodwinked her with an invitation to collect her debt amounting to Shillings 1 million.
Those in custody at Kabalagala Police Station are Umuru Katende, Jami Ndagire, Muhammad Mutyaba, Patrick Makanga, Aisha Nasuna, and Hannifa Makula. According to Enanga, the suspects have been operating in the areas of Kibuli, Kabalagala, and other parts of Makindye.
Cases of kidnapping are still high in the country. The 2020 annual crime report compiled by the Criminal Investigations Directorate-CID indicated that 207 cases of kidnapping were reported compared to 159 cases that were registered in 2019, which is a 30 percent increase.