At exactly 6:47PM today evening Police in Gulu released former Aruu County Member of Parliament Samuel Odonga Otto on bond after morethan 10 hours under detention.
Odonga Otto who is facing mutliple charges including inciting violence, torture and robbery handed himself to Police where he was detained for hours at Aswa Police Regional headquarters.
Police say his files have been sent to the directorate of public prosecution for perusal and further guidance.
Odonga Otto has been elusive since last week when Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga issued a statement indicating that he was needed by Police for interrogation.
The former legislator handed himself to Police where he recorded four different statements including torture, robbery among others.
It is alleged that on several occasions with others at large have participated in unlawful torture of commercial charcoal dealers in and around Pader District.
Speaking to the Media the former Law maker said he decided to hand himself to Police after social media posts indicating that Police was looking for him.
Otto who spent hours under interrogation at Aswa Police headquarters is accused of commanding a group of vigilantes who beat and caused injuries to three charcoal businessmen in the Atanga sub-county in the Pader district a week ago on April 30.
The MP however denied the allegations against him saying they are trumped up since he wasn’t within the Acholi Sub-region on the date the alleged incidents were reported.
ODONGA OTTO FIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
According to Odonga Otto, the level of environmental degradation in the Acholi Sub-region has reached an alarming level with its visible impact on climate change being currently felt in the region.
He however notes that despite their campaign, some police officers in the region are instead promoting the vice by shielding perpetrators of illegal charcoal trade by escorting them after receiving bribes.
Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson David Ongom told the press Monday that it wasn’t yet clear whether Otto will record a statement or only have a meeting with the Regional Police Commander Damali Nachuha.
Ongom however reveals that Otto has a number of cases to answer including inciting locals to loot charcoal from a truck in Pader District.
He denied allegations that the police are involved in escorting trucks of charcoal out of the region despite the ban issued by the Environment Ministry.
Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga last week noted in a statement that the suspects are also accused of robbing 1.1 Million shillings from one of the victims before vandalizing a Fuso Truck registration UBA 600B.
Videos of the victims who appeared to have been held hostage and paraded in a compound during a downpour while on their knees and others lying on the ground undergoing interrogation by unknown people went viral last week. It received a fair share of condemnation on social media for the inhumane ways the businessmen were treated.
Otto launched a controversial approach to implement the charcoal ban in the region in February using local vigilantes under Ribbe Pi Paco (RPP), an environmental youth advocacy and activism group.
The group stormed several charcoal hotspots in the region where they destroyed logs and charcoal and also intercepted trucks loaded with charcoal on the major highways.
In February this year the Ministry of Environment banned all districts in Acholi Sub-region from issuing documents facilitating the commercial production and trade and transportation of charcoal following an outcry on the alarming environmental degradation.
