Uganda Police has with immediate effect banned the buying and selling of fuel in containers at pumps until further notice. The decision has been taken to foil any attempts by political rioters to make petrol bombs, police spokesman Commissioner Fred Enanga has disclosed.
According to Enanga, some of the rioters who went on havoc on 18th November when NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi was arrested in Luuka used petrol transported in jerrycans to make Improvised Explosive Devices -IEDs known as petrol bombs in layman language, which they hurled at security and government vehicles.
The police spokesman has also disclosed that intelligence services are closely monitoring the sale and movement of tyres which are also a choice item for the rioters to light fires. These are used especially for burning roads which cost millions of dollars to build.
Security is monitoring service stations where tyre changing is done, garages and used tyre dealerships. The death toll from the November 18-19 riots has reached 54, hundreds of injuries and over one thousand arrests. 843 riot suspects have been charged before courts of law, 699 have been remanded while 93 have been released on court bail. 113 suspects have received police bond, 13 are still being held in police cells up to this Monday, 21 of those arrested have been fully cleared and released with further pending action.
