Police in Mbarara district on Friday rescued a health worker and her 14-year-old boy from unidentified abductors.
A nurse identified as Agiripina Atwiine, 50, working at Kashongi Health centre III in Kiruhura district, and her son Ndowoza Ssekatawa went missing for four days after they were allegedly abducted by unidentified assailants.
Samson Kasasira, the Rwizi region Police spokesperson, says the abductors demanded a ransom of 10 million shillings from the relatives for their release.
Kasasira says the two went missing on May 11, 2026, after leaving home in Ihanika cell, Nyanja ward, Bukiiro Town Council in Mbarara district at around 7:30 pm.
He narrates that the two reportedly boarded an unknown vehicle at Rutooma Trading centre, travelling to Kashongi Health Centre III, in Kiruhura district, where Atwiine works.
However, concern arose later that night when Atwiine’s husband, Gwoloba Ssekatawa, 52, attempted to contact her to confirm whether they had arrived safely, only to find her phone switched off.
Ssekatawa says worry deepened the following morning, when Atwiine reportedly contacted her father, Aaron Byesigwoh, informing him that she and her son had been abducted by unknown people who had tied them to a tree in a bush.
She further told the father that the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of UGX.10 million for their release.
Ssekatawa later registered a case of kidnap at Bwizibwera Police Station under CRB 277/2026, prompting an intensive search operation led by the Flying Squad Unit.
Kasasira says that on Thursday morning, after four days of searching, the flying squad rescued the victims from a farm in Kyarwabuganda cell in Mbarara City North division, where they were found tied to a tree with minor injuries and sexual assaults on the woman.
He adds that they have since launched a manhunt for the unidentified suspects as investigations continue.
SOURCE: URN
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