Bishop blames new wave of killings on drug abuse
Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok of Lira Diocese
What you need to know:
- Data from North Kyoga regional police headquarters indicates that more than 12 people were killed in two weeks.
- There are nine districts that makeup Lango Sub-region; Lira, Oyam, Kole, Otuke, Kwania, Amolatar, Alebtong, Apac, and Dokolo.
The bishop of Lira Diocese, Rt Rev Sanctus Lino Wanok, has blamed the rampant killings in Lango Sub-region on drug abuse and irresponsible consumption of alcohol.
Data from North Kyoga regional police headquarters indicates that more than 12 people were killed in two weeks.
There are nine districts that makeup Lango Sub-region; Lira, Oyam, Kole, Otuke, Kwania, Amolatar, Alebtong, Apac, and Dokolo.
While addressing journalists at Lira Ordination Ground on Good Friday, Bishop Wanok blamed the murder incidences on consumption of drug substances and alcohol.
“The killings which are rampant here are either political or social and we think that they are mainly social. People are taking the drug substances which are not good, like marijuana,” he said.
The bishop said such substances are supposed to be used for medical purposes.
“You find people taking them freely on the street. Even some are growing and selling them freely and this is combined with alcohol [you find that] wife is killing the husband, husband is killing the wife and woman is killing her own child without mercy. It’s because they have taken these substances which are forbidden,” the bishop added.
He tasked the government to set up stringent rules on use of drug substances.
What police say
The North Kyoga regional police spokesperson, Mr Jimmy Patrick Okema, said there is need for more sensitisation and community policing.
“As police, we have realised that there are issues of domestic violence in our homes. Anybody suspected to have stolen an item is beaten and finished within two minutes. We have issues of land wrangles, rain is soon returning; you will believe that we are going to have more of these cases,” Mr Okema told the media in Lira City last Tuesday.
He added: “As the police force, we are doing our best to see that the law takes its cause against the perpetrators but also that is not enough. We need to do more sensitisation and community policing but not only leave work for the police.”
