crime 24 March 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Arua Mob Lynches Two Men Suspected of Stealing Motorcycle
A mob in Arua City killed two residents, Godfrey Aliga and Vincent Mabe, after spotting them with a suspected stolen motorcycle during night patrols amid rising thefts. Police condemned the mob justice and warned of arrests for participants. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/mob-kills-two-over-suspected-motorcycle-theft-in-arua-5401754
Police in Arua City are probing the fatal mob attack on two men accused of motorcycle theft.
The violence erupted just after midnight on March 23 at Buniababa trading centre in Ayivu East Division. Godfrey Aliga, a 30-year-old boda-boda rider, and 24-year-old Vincent Mabe, both local residents, were the victims.
West Nile police spokesperson SSP Josephine Angucia explained that residents on night patrols, responding to increased bike thefts, spotted the pair pushing a red numberless Bajaj motorcycle they believed was stolen.
When confronted, the men tried to run but were pursued, caught, and beaten to death at the scene.
The case was first logged at Oluko Police Post and moved to Ayivu East Division as a murder by mob action. Officers recovered the motorcycle and took the bodies to Arua Regional Referral Hospital mortuary for autopsy, while documenting the site and witness accounts.
Some locals claimed the victims had prior links to thefts. Angucia called on people to avoid vigilante actions and hand suspects to police, vowing to charge mob members with murder.
Such mob killings remain prevalent in Uganda due to crime frustrations and low trust in law enforcement.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)