A murder convict has been arrested for allegedly hacking a female prison officer to death at Loro Prison in Oyam district.
The incident happened on Friday morning when 28-year-old Benson Adupa, a prisoner serving a 10-year jail term over the murder, waylaid the staff chief warder grade III, Christine Abonyo, who was at Loro government farm and hacked her with an ax.
Abonyo was in charge of the kitchen. Sources said Adupa was recently stopped from working in the kitchen by the prison’s officer in charge after Abonyo accused him of writing a love letter to her. As such, Adupa was told to start working in the shamba.
Frank Baine, the prison’s spokesperson, confirmed the incident, saying Adupa climbed a tree after committing the murder, which forced officers to attempt shooting him.
However, the officer in charge, Hannington Musinguzi, together with other Police officers and the Resident District Commissioner, Jillian Akullu, convinced Adupa to surrender. Adupa reportedly wanted to commit suicide.
He was later arrested and taken to Oyam Central Police Station, while Abonyo’s body was taken to Lira Regional Referral Hospital for a postmortem.
ADUPA’S EARLIER CASE
According to prison records, Adupa was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Gulu High Court resident judge, Margaret Mutonyi, for the murder of 20-year-old Irene Aol in 2016.
The court was informed that on June 3, 2014, Adupa killed Aol after a quarrel over extramarital affairs. Baine said Adupa was left with three years to complete his sentence. When asked if such incidences had ever happened in prisons, Baine said there were incidents of attempted murder in Mbale and Masaka.
“Once in a while, we get such incidences. Prisoners are not easy to deal with,” Baine stated.
He said the killing of Abonyo was unfortunate. He commended the Police and Akullu for the timely response. A source said Abonyo had complained about Adupa’s conduct and had requested to either be transferred or the prisoner is moved.
Adupa reportedly told his fellow inmates that he would kill Abonyo. Simon Peter Oola, the Loro LC3 councillor, who resides near the facility, said there were many administrative issues at the prison.
He cited a recent case where two top officers almost shot each other over a misunderstanding. ❝ A source said Abonyo had complained about Adupa’s conduct and had requested to either be transferred or the prisoner be moved