BY SIMON MASABA AND PONSIANO NSIMBI
Following the foiling of a sh190m robbery that workers of a hardware were going to bank, emerging details show that robbers plant spies near busy businesses and get to know their operations before they attack.
According to the Police, the robbers’ spies are also placed near banks, with some of their accomplices being employees of targeted businesses, including the banks.
Sources said some of the bank staff use markers to label clients without their knowledge, which helps the robbers to identify their target upon exiting the banking hall.
On Tuesday, personnel attached to the Police’s alert squad intercepted armed robbers, who had kidnapped businesswoman Shaturah Namata as she left Give-and-Take hardware shop in Bulenga along Mityana Road in Wakiso district with sh190m, which she intended to bank in Kampala.
The Police are investigating circumstances under which the robbers found out that Namata was transporting the cash, as she moved in a Fuso truck with its driver.
The robbers, driving in a Toyota Noah at high speed, intercepted Namata at Wakaliga, before they swiftly bundled her into their vehicle with the bag containing the money.
The Police say the criminals embarked on a 45-minute journey to Kiwanga in Mukono district, where they dumped Namata before fleeing with the cash.
BODABODAS SAVE THE DAY
Shortly after she was abandoned by the robbers, a bodaboda rider luckily showed up and Namata requested him to help her pursue the thieves.
Namata jumped onto the bodaboda and they followed the robbers. As the two pursued them, other bodaboda riders were alerted and joined in the chase. Police joined the pursuit and intercepted the robbers near Naalya flyover as they tried to get away using the Northern Bypass.
Kampala metropolitan Police deputy spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire commended the bodaboda riders for helping the Police apprehend the robbers.
“The chase reached a dramatic climax near the Naalya flyover when a courageous motorist used their vehicle to block the path of the suspects,” Owoyesigyire said.
Owoyesigyire revealed that while one suspect managed to evade arrest, two of them; Kakaire Opio and James Sanusa alias Kabusu, were apprehended. Although initial police reports indicated that the Police recovered sh115m from the suspects, another report indicates that they recovered sh160m.
Operatives attached to the Directorate of Crime Intelligence (DCI) revealed that the last 10 cases of robbery that have happened in Kampala had an insider involved in leaking information about the movement of cash. DCI is headed by Brig. Gen. Chris Ddamulira.
ROBBERS GIVE INSIDER INFORMATION
Explaining the inside job, the operative said since the robbers are armed with insider information about the movement of the cash, they easily execute their missions before vanishing with their loot.
“Routinely, robbers will plan with an insider promising to share the loot with them. But, sometimes they eliminate these accomplices,” the source explained.
The source cited 12 people, including three Police officers, who allegedly stole over sh1b from the home of the National Resistance Movement national treasurer, Ambassador Barbara Nekesa Oundo, last December.
The 12, who had been deployed to guard Oundo’s home, have since been charged with robbery before the Makindye Grade One Magistrate, Charles Opio, and remanded.
“They robbed a person they knew and had direct knowledge on how the cash was kept in the house,” the source said.
The prosecution alleged that the accused persons, and others still at large, on December 5, last year at Kyeitabya zone in Bukasa parish, Makindye division in Kampala, while armed with two guns, received and retained an unspecified amount of money from Oundo’s house knowing or having a reason to believe the same to have been feloniously stolen.
SIMILAR CASES
In 2019, robbers attacked Cheap Hardware Stores in Nansana, Wakiso district, reportedly acting on a tipoff from one of the staff. Armed with AK47 rifles, the six robbers shot four people dead before walking away with sh385m.
“The armed thugs walked past their informer to the counter and shot at her colleagues, before they carried the money away. We noticed a similar pattern after several months of reviewing different closedcircuit television footage. During interrogation, the lady informer confessed and explained how she was recruited,” said the source.
In 2014, Joseph Bigirwa, the officer in charge of Kajjansi Police Station in Wakiso district, was shot dead as he responded to a distress call. The robbers made off with sh11m from a mobile money agent near a petrol station in Kajjansi after robbers put him at gunpoint. They also grabbed over sh200,000 from the pump attendants.
It was later established that a mobile money agent had been spied on by robbers as he routinely picked the money (float). This was after the Police’s Flying Squad unit arrested and interrogated a gang of nine thugs said to be behind the murder of Bigirwa.
Recently, Hadijjah Namutebi, the Police’s chief political commissar, said preliminary investigations show a disturbing connection between the attackers and individuals privy to inside information, suggesting complicity with confidants of the targeted businessmen.
“This collaboration raises concerns about the leaking of crucial details that aid the criminals in pinpointing their targets. Foreign nationals are being advised to shift to digital transactions for enhanced safety,” Namutebi said.
Sources said most of the robbers spend a few days in detention before they are released on bond.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
Evans Okwi, a security expert, said cases where individuals within an organisation collude with outsiders to commit robbery can be particularly challenging.
He said preventing inside jobs requires a combination of security measures, including thorough background checks, regular monitoring, robust security protocols, and employee education.
“Inside jobs can occur even in well-established organisations with seemingly stringent security measures. Therefore, maintaining constant vigilance and regularly reviewing security protocols is crucial for preventing and detecting insider threats,” Okwi said.
Veronica Watsemba, another security expert, called for educating employees about the various forms of insider threats, the common tactics used by criminals, and how to respond to security breaches to mitigate risks.
“Regular training sessions and awareness campaigns can empower employees to play an active role in preventing insider jobs,” she said.
NEW VISION
Discussion about this post