Security guard arrested over girlfriend's murder

Police in Gulu City are holding a security guard accused of smashing his girlfriend’s head with a gun butt on Wednesday night in domestic brawl.

The suspect, identified as Albert Okonye, a security guard attached to 7 Guidance Security Ltd, reportedly pounced on his girlfriend, Barbara Faith Akello, when a misunderstanding erupted between them following a distressing telephone call he allegedly received from an unknown man.

The incident occurred at Shine Fuel Station in Industrial Area village, Bardege-Layibi Division, Gulu City.

“After we left Arsenal’s game midway and were returning to t he workplace, we saw the guard hitting a woman with his gun and assumed she was a thief. It was only then that we heard her screaming for help, saying her husband was killing her,” Jaffer Mbogo, a worker at a bakery neighbouring the fuel station, said.

"He threatened to shoot at us if we attempted to come near them," Mbogo added.

However, a staff member at the fuel station, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that Okonye moved away from his girlfriend and spoke on the phone for about eight minutes. After ending the call, he immediately rushed to confront her.

“We were still inside the office after closing business when the woman arrived. Shortly he received a telephone call and he sounded vulgar on the phone,” the source stated.

“It was the third time, since his deployment about a month ago, that Akello came to the fuel station to check on her husband during the night when he is working. Last night, she only turned up to Okonye’s workplace much later than previously, and every time they would talk for about 30 minutes,” he stated.

According to witnesses, when Okonye’s colleague, Jimmy Omara, a security guard attempted to approach the couple and rescue Akello, Okonye allegedly aimed the gun at him.

Police say they have now launched an inquiry into the circumstances that resulted in the incident.

“We established that while the suspect and his colleague were at their workplace at Shine Petrol Station, Layibi branch, the deceased came and when they met, the deceased received a phone call from an unknown man, causing an altercation,” Mr David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West regional police spokesperson, said in a statement.

According to police, Okonye abandoned the gun with a broken butt and fled from the scene, but he was traced and apprehended.

On Thursday morning, scene-of-crime detectives attached to Gulu City Central Police Station deployed at the scene from where they recovered an SMG gun with a broken butt.

“He is now in custody, the gun was recovered, including other exhibits of forensic importance for investigation, and the deceased body was conveyed to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital mortuary for postmortem as inquiries continue,” Ongom added.

“Upon the conclusion of investigations, the file shall be submitted to the Resident City Attorney for legal guidance before the suspect is produced in court for prosecution. We condemn the violent action taken by the guard resulting from a simple domestic misunderstanding,” Ongom added.

The Wednesday night incident brings to two - the cases of women reportedly killed by their boyfriends in Gulu City in less than 10 days.

On April 23, a female police constable, Harriet Akera, attached to Namukosi Police Station in Mityana District, was allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend, Denis Brian Apire, at Library Cell in Bardege-Layibi Division, following a bitter quarrel over their stalled love affair.