Police in Busia District, Eastern Uganda, have rescued an eight-year-old girl from two knife-wielding men who had reportedly kidnapped her from Kampala with intention of sacrificing her.
She was rescued from Mirembe Guest House in Kisenyi village, Busia Town, after two unidentified men, who were in the company of her uncle only identified as Kifefe, had taken advantage of her parents’ absence to take her away.
“The suspects had taken me away from home while my parents were in the garden, saying they were going to buy me eats from the shop,” the girl, who only remembers her late mother as Mwajuma, said on March 2, 2024.
The Bukedi South region Police spokesman, Moses Mugwe, said: “Someone in the name of “uncle Kifefe” took advantage of the absence of the parents and convinced the victim that he was going to buy her something to eat from a nearby shop.”
According to police, “Kifefe seems to be known to the victim’s family and appears to have taken this girl with intentions of sacrificing her.”
Nixon Wandera, the manager of the guest house, said the unidentified men came to book a room with the child at about 8pm on Friday, but did not have any identification.
He noted: “When I asked them for their identification, they took the child to the room and moved out to bring the documents; but shortly after, the victim started crying while calling out for help, saying she did not know the men.”
Out of suspicion, Wandera says he asked his colleague, identified as Dennis Tibanja, to take care of the facility and the child, and he ran to Busia Police Station to report the matter.
But Tibanja revealed that one of the men returned to the room and, out of panic, picked his bag and attempted to leave.
“I tried to lock the suspect inside the room, but he pulled out a sharp knife from his bag and attempted to stab me; I fell behind the door and he escaped,” Tibanja further explained.