{"id":6974,"date":"2021-03-24T19:02:27","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T19:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=6974"},"modified":"2021-03-24T16:20:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T16:20:43","slug":"police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve","title":{"rendered":"Police on the spot over fresh\u00a0 plunder of Zoka forest reserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The unconditional release from police custody of seven suspects accused of illegally harvesting timber from Zoka Central Forest Reserve in Adjumani District has drawn anger among locals and environmentalists.<\/p>\n

Police at Adjumani Central Police Station released the suspects on March 15 hours after they had been arrested by National Forestry Authority (NFA) rangers and local leaders for allegedly cutting trees in the forest reserve.<\/p>\n

The suspects were arrested with four power saws, axes, machetes, ropes, food, cooking utensils and other tools. Hours later, the suspects were reportedly released from police custody unconditionally, a move that has compelled the public to believe that police have a hand in the plunder of the forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply concerned by that action; it appears police are playing double standards by releasing the seven suspects just hours after they were handed to them,\u201d Friends of Zoka, a pressure group advocating to save the forest, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn ratifying a directive by first deputy Prime Minister Gen Moses Ali, we ask police to check within its ranks for unscrupulous officers aiding illicit exploitation of natural resources,\u201d Mr William Amanzuru, the team leader of Friends of Zoka, said.<\/p>\n

This incident was preceded by the March 5 one when the district forest and natural resources departments detained Corporal Isaac Opira and three other police officers from Apaa Police Post.<\/p>\n

The four were arrested at Lulayi Village, a buffer zone of Zoka Central Forest Reserve, while guarding heaps of timber whose owner could not be identified.<\/p>\n

The district leaders alleged that the police officers, with the authority of the officer-in-charge (OC) of Zoka Police Post, Mr Patrick Komakec, have for long been providing security and cover for illegal logging activities in the forest.<\/p>\n

However, the police officers were also released, according to Mr Solomon Agwee, an environmental activist in the district.<\/p>\n

Police speak out<\/b><\/p>\n

However, police on Monday said they released the suspects since the NFA officials who arrested them simply dumped them at the station without providing evidence that would implicate them in the plunder of the forest reserve.<\/p>\n

Mr Godwin Ochaki, the Adjumani District police commander (DPC), said: \u201cThey simply dumped the suspects there and never registered a case against them and did not give us the exhibits, when I asked them to do so, they did not.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mr Ochaki explained that the man who had employed the suspects to cut trees in the forest reserve has since been arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I released his men, he wanted to pay me to help recover his machines and that is how we arrested him once he arrived at CPS. His files are ready and he will be arraigned before court immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Mr Ochaki and other senior police officers in the area conducted a patrol around the forest and also visited Apaa Police Post but did not find the accused officers there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found Mr Komakec (OC) absent but I have summoned him. Mr Opira is not one of us but an officer attached to Naguru (police headquarters in Kampala), who was on course but decided to come and steal timber here instead of returning to his station after the course,\u201d the DPC said. He added that they have written to their counterparts at Naguru about Mr Opira\u2019s actions and that he would be arrested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. The unconditional release from police custody of seven suspects accused of illegally harvesting timber from Zoka Central Forest Reserve in Adjumani District has drawn anger among locals and environmentalists. Police at Adjumani Central Police Station released the suspects on March 15 hours after they had been arrested by National Forestry Authority (NFA) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-6974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nPolice on the spot over fresh\u00a0 plunder of Zoka forest reserve - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The unconditional release from police custody of seven suspects accused of illegally harvesting timber from Zoka Central ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Police on the spot over fresh\u00a0 plunder of Zoka forest reserve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The unconditional release from police custody of seven suspects accused of illegally harvesting timber from Zoka Central ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-24T19:02:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/03\/img-605b66bc64513.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Police on the spot over fresh\u00a0 plunder of Zoka forest reserve\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-24T19:02:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/03\/img-605b66bc64513.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/police-on-the-spot-over-fresh-plunder-of-zoka-forest-reserve\",\"name\":\"Police on the spot over fresh\u00a0 plunder of Zoka forest reserve - 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