Security officers, civilians wounded in shoot-out over land eviction

The land eviction exercise at Nakasongora Christ Church in Mauna suburb on Tuesday morning turned into deadly shootout between the security forces and unidentified armed civilian, leaving two security officers and two civilians nursing bullet wounds.

 Maj.Gen Daniel Justin Buolo, the National Police spokesperson, said trouble started when the police turned up at Nakasongora Christ Church armed with a court order evicting the church from the land contested with the transitional national legislative assembly (TNLA).

 “Today (Tuesday) was execution of the order of the court that the church has to leave that place and the plot has to be handed over to the national legislative assembly, they (police) started removing things from the church and during that process somebody outside the fence came and started shooting at the forces inside the church,” Buolo told journalists during press conference held at the national ministry of interior.

“They exchanged fire and as a result four people got wounded, one police personnel was shot on the shoulder, another from national security was shot in the hand and then outside on the main road two civilians who were passing  were also affected,” he disclosed.

Buolo revealed that the dispute between the national parliament and the church was settled through the courts.

 “There was a dispute between the national legislative assembly and the church, and they took legal process, the case was opened and then the court at the end issued a verdict in favor of the assembly because they have their documents and the church was informed,” he said.