The Territorial Police in KMP North and Nabweru Police are investigating an extortion ring that is issuing threats of arson to selected Headteachers over the phone if they do not part with money.
So far, two Headteachers in Nabweru have been contacted by an anonymous caller on phone number 0700514784, where the persons behind the call, claim to have been hired from Luwero to purposely burn their schools.
According to CP Enanga Fred, Police Spokesperson, on June 24, they called and issued threats to the Headteacher of Exford Nursery and Primary School, Nkoyoyo Joseph, after getting his number from the school signpost at around 1:40pm.
A similar threat of arson was made to the Headteacher of Prosper Junior School, Ms. Kuliro Mary Treasure, by anonymous callers on the same number.
After failed attempts, another caller used the same number, to demand Ugx 150,000/= from the Headteachers, claiming he knew the owners of the school and wanted to volunteer information to them.
Enanga said so far, 12 suspects have been arrested and are thoroughly being screened by Nabweru police.
“We want to assure the Headteachers and the public that this is a scam, designed to scare them, into handing over money without seeking any further assistance,” Enanga said in a statement.
“We do thank them for being responsible and encourage other potential victims, to report such scams to police, to help dismantle such extortion gangs and to help us monitor trends. We are also cautioning other people like government officials, business owners, those looking for jobs and vulnerable persons especially Elders to be very careful with scammers who use dishonest methods to contact potential victims and attempt to pressure them with threats to pay or blackmail.”
He urged members of the public to be very cautious while communicating on phone and to avoid sharing any personal information with strangers or people they have never met in person.
“These criminals will try to get contacts from signposts, business cards or randomly and then demand money or forms in exchange for not causing damage to your property, life or blackmail and propaganda.”
