Two journalists and 15 other people in Adjumani District are out on police bond following their arrest for staging a demonstration against the conduct of the military in the area. The journalists are Martin Okudi of NBS Television and Alfred Shida of Radio Amani. They were among 17 people arrested on Monday, October 26, 2026, during a protest outside the Resident District Commissioner’s (RDC) office in Central Cell, Central Ward, Adjumani Town Council.
Collins Asea, the North West Nile regional police spokesperson, confirmed the arrests, saying the group was accused of unlawful assembly and demonstration. A case was registered under Adjumani SD Reference 49/26/10/2026 as investigations continued.
Asea said about 300 people from Ayiri Village in Ukusijoni Sub-county gathered at the RDC’s office at approximately 12:40 p.m. carrying placards to protest the conduct of military personnel in the area. He said the police arrested the demonstrators on the orders of Adjumani RDC Swaib Toko.
The demonstrators reportedly accused Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) personnel of evicting Madi residents from disputed land in Ofu and Opeareni-Ayiri villages while allowing Acholi and Bantu residents to remain on the contested land.
However, Toko defended his decision to order the arrests, saying the demonstrators failed to respond adequately to his questions. He also accused the journalists of taking photographs and recording videos of the protesters outside his office without his permission. “None of them could even talk as I asked them, and this prompted me to order their arrest,” Toko said.
In a social media post, Okudi described the arrests as arbitrary and unwarranted, insisting that the journalists were performing their professional duty of giving a voice to the voiceless. Earlier reports indicated that three people believed to have organised the demonstration were identified as Williams Igama Drani, Richard Andrew and Mawadri, the LC I chairperson of Ayiri Village. However, accounts differed on who among them had been arrested or released.
The release of the journalists and the 15 other suspects on police bond followed condemnation of the arrests and the actions of the police and the RDC. Police have not yet provided further details on the next steps in the investigation-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
