Inmate stabs colleague with knife inside Lira Government Prison
BY ISAAC OTWII
An inmate at Lira government Prison is nursing serious injuries after he was on Tuesday morning stabbed by his fellow convict.
Mr Denis Obaa, 33, was reportedly stabbed two times with a knife on Tuesday morning at a prison cell in Lira Government Prison in Lira City.
Mr Frank Baine, the Spokesperson for Uganda Prison Service (UPS) said on Tuesday that the two inmates were all convicts of murder. Mr Obaa was stabbed by Ronny Johnson Engole, 46 who has been serving as a prison prefect where he committed the offense.
“It happened at around 8:20 am in the morning. There is a prisoner who was a prefect and he had a disagreement with another inmate who is a cleaner at the clinic. This prefect was able to move throughout the prison and he was able to have a knife which he used to stab his friend two times,” Mr Baine said on Tuesday.
According to Baine, Mr Engole had served two years out of 13-years of his sentence. The victim was rushed to Lira Regional Referral Hospital for treatment.
“I think the intention was to kill him but of course, now the prison staff intervened in time and were able to stop him. The victim was rushed to the hospital and this one (the perpetrator) was arrested, taken to the police, and charged with attempted murder,” says Baine.
The North Kyoga regional police spokesperson, Mr James Ekaju said he was yet to receive a detailed report on the incident.
“I’ve not been briefed on that but let me inquire and communicate to you later,” he said.
A prison warder who spoke on condition of anonymity said preparations were being made to transfer Mr Engole to Gulu Prisons.
“Obaa was only remaining with four months to finish his sentence. We were shocked that Engole had a knife inside the prison cell since murder convicts are always not allowed to move freely inside here,” he said.
Engole was in 2014 arrested after Denis Anyuru, a resident of Kakoge A in present-day Lira City West Divison was found set ablaze in his vehicle. The car was seen burning at around 11 pm at Odokomit on Lira Kamdini- highway and police Fire Brigade was called in.
When it put out the fire, it was discovered that a person got burnt in it.
It is not the first time that the region is registering a case of inmate violence. In 2019, a 28-year old inmate killed a prison wardress using an ax from Loro Prison in Oyam District.
Benson Adupa who has been serving a 10-year jail sentence after he was convicted of his wife’s murder, attacked a prison wardress, Christine Abonyo, 58, who was carrying out inmates roller call at a kitchen.
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