By KT Reporter
Arua City security committee has suspended all remaining post-primary ball games over indiscipline and hooliganism.
The indefinite suspension was announced on Monday by Judith Bako, the Assistant Resident City Commissioner in charge of Central Division after incidents of hooliganism, robberies and scuffles between students and the Police during two different matches at Arua Police grounds.
The first matches between Arua Town Sec. School and Mvara Sec School and St. Joseph’s College Ombaci and St. Peters SS Aliba ended well with Mvara and Ombaci securing a 1:0 win over their opponents and these were followed by quarter-final games between Arua public SS and Bishop Angelo Tarantino Memorial a private SS and Arua SS against Najja Islamic Sec. School, which ushered in chaotic scenes.
The police were forced to fire live bullets and teargas after a group claiming to be students pelted police officers with stones who had stopped them from accessing the playgrounds because they were not in uniform. Some of the members of the gang snatched phones and bags of women passing by and also beat up people who came their way.
A woman who was riding a motorcycle lost the bike after a hooligan offered to help her but sped off with the bike amidst tear gas on the road, leaving her in tears, while another unidentified woman also lost her handbag with an unspecified amount of money.
Bako said the remaining games will be rescheduled after thorough security verification.
Meanwhile, Bernard Angua the Vice Chairperson of the Uganda Secondary School Sports Association in charge of Arua City regretted the incident adding that it was very unfortunate that the situation went out of hand.
However, Rashid Apangu, the chairperson Arua District Football Association said the actions of students should be condemned.
According to Jamal Nasur the head Coach of Arua Secondary, one of the affected schools expressed dismay over the incident but appealed for fairness in handling the matter-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
