The suspects escaped while being booked at Gulu Central Police station following their arrest with a semi-automatic rifle number M51145106976 with nine rounds of live ammunition in Aywee, 2kilometers south west of Gulu town. Jimmy Patrick Okema, the Aswa Region Police Spokesperson, says the suspects were re-arrested from Lakwana Sub County also in Gulu district.
Three police officers were arrested in connection with the escape of the suspects. According to Okema, the suspects have been transferred to Kitgum for questioning. He says they have preferred charges of aggravated robbery, a capital offence which carries a maximum sentence of death penalty on conviction.
He says the suspects are wanted together with another identified as Robert Odong for their involvement in numerous cases of robbery in Kitgum and Gulu districts. Okema cited an incident in February where the pair allegedly a local businessman, James Opong of unspecified amount of money, a mobile phone and other valuables.
17 people have been gunned down in Acholi and Lango sub regions since May 2014. At least six guns have been recovered in police operations in the last two years.