The Police in Kampala has raised a red flag over the emergence of criminal gangs using children to attack victims.
Although Kampala has had a series of criminals victimizing pedestrians, riders and drivers, change in the methods of operation of the gangs known as Egaali and Dog Tulumbe are giving security personnel sleepless nights
According to security, both gangs move in a group of 15 to 20 people especially when they are conducting their ‘missions’ in slums during daytime or during rush hours.
These, multiply their numbers when they are targeting revelers going or returning from events that attract mammoth crowds like music concerts organized in areas of Lugogo, Hotel Africana, and Freedom City.
Namale Kiwanuka, reported a case at Kabalagala Police Station about two months ago, after she fell into the gang at midday at an access route not far from the police station.
Kiwanuka said when she saw a group of about 20 boys aged about 10 years ahead of her, she thought they were perhaps going for a football match not until when all her belongings were snatched within seconds.
“I tried to bypass them but they suddenly encircled me. Within seconds I was on the ground and they had also disappeared. I lost my bag with the money I had just withdrawn and my phone which I had held for less than two months,” Kiwanuka said.
In WhatsApp groups of residents in Kabalagala, Bunga, Ggaba, Konge, Lukuli, and Nsambya including those of university students within the same areas, members keep alerting colleagues where they have been robbed or where the suspected gangs have been sighted.
