Police have started an investigation into the motive of the thugs who hacked to death a Nateete National Mosque sheikh at his home in Buloba, Wakiso District on Wednesday night.
Sheikh Yunus Lubega, who later succumbed to injuries as he was being rushed to Rubaga hospital, was attacked by more than three machete-wielding men while in his sleep at around 3am.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said they are treating the incident as a violent robbery case rather than an attack on Muslim clerics.
“The thugs demanded for money before the sheikh attempted to fight them off. In the scuffle, the thugs cut him on the head before they fled his home. He later bled to death. This incident appears to be different from the previous cases where Muslim clerics were attacked,” Mr Onyango said yesterday.
It was the second attack in two weeks against the same family. The first time, the thugs didn’t find him in the house, but they made off with his wife’s mobile phone.
The incident comes at a time when Muslims are living in fear following a spate of violent attacks on their leaders countrywide. More than a dozen Muslim clerics were gunned down in a similar manner in the last two years, but a few suspects were arrested and prosecuted. No conviction has been secured yet.
Mr Onyango said investigations into Lubega’s killing are ongoing though no suspects have been arrested yet.
In the latest killing, police said the thugs gained entrance in the house as Lubega’s family was asleep.
Matters ran out of hand
They then woke up the family and demanded for money. Lubega’s wife had kept Shs300,000 that was meant for their children’s school fees.
She gave it to the thugs, but they continued demanding for more money.
According to police, Lubega sent them to another place in the house where he kept some money and the thugs found the money, which they considered too little.
“The thugs got annoyed and harassed the family to reveal where they were hiding the money,” Mr Onyango said, adding: “When Lubega saw things running out of hand, he jumped on one of the attackers and attempted to strangle him. The attackers responded by cutting him on the head.”
Injured Lubega released the attacker, and they (thugs) fled Lubega’s relatives rushed him to hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Leave a Reply