Environmental Police Officers Arrested Over Protecting Loggers

Geoffrey Osborn Oceng, the Resident District Commissioner of Lamwo ordered the arrest of the Environmental Police unit officers. This happened so after he allegedly discovered them to be giving protection to loggers.

Oceng, in an interview with reporters, said he also had orders for the confiscation of the truck as he sent the implicated officers to Gulu regional police.

“A word of appreciation to the community of Abera who informed me about the presence of environmental Police protecting loggers. I went with the district chairman and apprehended them. Now we parked the trucks at Lamwo Central Police Station. The regional environment Police are a disgrace to the Police fraternity. They are now environment destruction Police,” Oceng said.

Mustapha Gerima, an environmental activist, criticized the environmental police for protecting loggers.

He said if this is true, then they should point out their experience in Zoka Central Forest Reserve and the charcoal business in West Nile.

“Whenever friends of Zoka run to Police in Adjumani, they receive them with negativity. There have also been similar situations reported from Yumbe when I was on a radio talk show in Yumbe,” Gerima said.

He further wondered what the country is really up to if the people trusted to protect resources are the very ones destroying them. He said the country has lost the sense of belonging which is very unfortunate for us.

They have left that land in Lamwo bare due to logging after loggers raiding the district. They have cut rare Afzelia Africana trees and shea nut trees which are highly in demand.

Lamwo district passed a resolution in 2018 instituting a temporary ban on logging. After this, authorities cracked down on loggers and impounded several trucks that transport logs to Kampala.

However, the vice continues unabated by selfish district officials and security teams that offer the loggers protection.

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