Mainstory: Meeting midnight highway robbers

Last Friday began like any other only I knew that come 1am, I would be on my way to Kigali aboard the 1am Jaguar Bus. Like many other travelers who regularly ply the Kampala-Kigali route, I am quite accustomed to the 1am bus. It’s usually more comfortable than other buses and most of all it gives you time to do all your things during the day and ample time to prepare for the long journey. The fact that half the journey is at night enables one to sleep and the refreshing morning breeze ensures that one doesn’t suffer motion stress or exhaustion throughout. The bus reaches Kigali as early as 11am; giving one enough time to do whatever took them there and also to relax. The majority of the passengers on this night trekker are traders from shopping sprees in Kampala and other people traveling to attend weddings, to visit relatives and friends while some are tourists from outside Africa. On this particular Friday night or rather morning, I checked in at the Jaguar parking yard at 12.30am and as usual, the yard is bustling with activity: porters loading merchandise in the bus trunks as passengers parade the bus corridor trying to locate their seats. Usually misunderstandings arise as passengers decline to surrender seats to their respective owners (those who actually booked them). For 10 minutes or so I tried to reach a ‘swapping deal’ with a gentleman who had taken my seat. He pleaded with saying that he had some ‘unfinished’ business with my female neighbour-to-be, and so I settled for a seat on the front near the entrance which the gentleman had booked for himself. I agreed to swap with him but not before he parted with a ‘quarter’ of Uganda Waragi, as a longtime friend I met on the bus acting as a ‘middle man’ suggested. The gentleman had no option but to purchase the liquor, apparently he had traveled with the lady on the journey to Kampala, and by luck, there she was again and another chance for him to give it another shot. These are the strange things that happen on night buses, people make up, chat each other up and you never know your female neighbour could be your next girlfriend. Finally after the bargaining, we all got seated and at 1am, we were off onto the 600km stretch for the 8 hour grueling journey to the land of 1000 hills. As always, a few moments on the road and everybody gets tucked under their heavy jackets, talking fades as one by one of the women and men drifts away into slumber land. Soon everybody else is sleeping, the lights are off and the curtains are drawn, only the driver seems to be awake. As the night grows, snores could be heard and once in a while giggles of people whose sleep had been interrupted by shocks as the speeding bus bumps into the many potholes along the highway. It was around 3.30am when we were stopped by a couple of policemen, just after Masaka town, towards Kinoni trading centre. As we stopped, the armed policemen jumped onto the bus. “We have been tipped that some highway robbers have established a roadblock ahead, apparently they have robbed several cars and you could be the next victims,” one of the policemen pronounced, first I thought I was dreaming but he went on. “We don’t know the exact place but we are sure it’s a few kilometers ahead, we are not sure if they are armed but chances are that they might be.” This was enough to send panic waves through all the passengers. Just as I thought of thanking the cops for the vigilant work, they yet had another surprise for us. Most of us were thinking of perhaps parking there until when it was safe to continue or of going back to Kampala if need be, but the cops had other ideas. “We are going to be by the bus door, we will go, just where you see heavy logs on the road and they stop you, just stop, we will jump out and shoot,” they ordered the driver. To me and to everybody else, this sounded like a script of the next Hollywood action blockbuster and a huge mistake on the side of the cops. Why us? Just behind us was a Gaso bus also heading to Kanyaru via Kigali and Amahoro also heading to Bujumbura via Kigali, they all leave Kampala at 1am. What if the thugs shoot back? I asked myself as we all waited to see the roadblock ahead, everybody else was praying, probably seeking for Gods protection from these savages of the night. Just as the as the tension was taking its toll on the passengers, the moment arrived. At a section of the road with banana plantations on either sides, heavy logs had been placed in the middle of the road to stop motorists and a saloon car by the roadside confirmed that the thugs were at work and we would be the next victims as the policemen had warned. As the bus slowed down, finally stopping, panic swept through as everybody tried to duck under chairs, just incase there was an exchange of fire. Life was at stake, a few cried as people held onto each other. Just as everybody else ducked for dear life, the policemen jumped out and in a movie like style, unleashed a barrage of shot in the direction of the thugs who had robbed clean the occupants of the saloon car. The cops shot at random into the dark, not seeing the robbers, who managed to escape into the dark plantation, replying with a few shots and disappearing into the dark of the night. Luckily enough the police caught them off guard and there was little time for them to face off with the cops. Off they went and now it was time for us to get out and remove the roadblock and more so help the robbed group get back on the road. A few scared passengers urged the driver to steer us away from the danger zone, while other compassionate ones saw it necessary to help other road users who had been robbed. We managed to get out and assist them and even clear the road but many feared that the robbers could re-organise and fire back, so it was safer to move away as fast as we could. Renewed fears In recent days, robbery cases especially between Masaka and Mbarara have increased. The thugs reportedly target Kigali-Bujumbura bound busses and trucks carrying goods. Sources reveal that at least one highway robbery takes place along this pothole riddled section of the road currently undergoing repair in two weeks and the highway patrol is on the lookout. The thugs operating in highly organised groups target busses and trucks because they are aware that most of the passengers are traders who carry lots of money. They are said to be armed and have cars which allow them to operate in a mobile nature, making it hard for police to track them. On that fateful night, the same robbers are said to have robbed a Rwandan truck driver, Joseph Nizeyeimaana of US $18,000 after top of torturing him and his helper. Drama ensues As the reality of thugs unfolded, several passengers scared of losing their money panicked and attempted to hide it between seats and underneath them while other opportunistic individuals took advantage and tried to steal the money. Others consequently disembarked into the dark of the night before we all noticed. One gentleman though could not let go of his hard earned cash and vowed to check every passenger, to the annoyance of the many. “How will you differentiate your money from mine? Currency is the same, is your money marked?” One angry passenger asked while others joined in, accusing the man of being a coward. Eventually police stopped the bus in Kabale and thoroughly checked all passengers termed as ‘prime suspects’. After an unsuccessful search, we were eventually told to go, only to reach the border and for more money to be found under seats. Somehow the owners were located and that the drama that had started six hours earlier in the heartland of Uganda ended with sunrise at the Rwandan border. What followed was much chattering as passengers shared experiences and past run-ins with highway robbers. This is when most of them revealed where they had hidden their money. “You see, even if you hide your money in your underwear, these thugs have a tendency of undressing their victims, they will eventually find it and punish the culprit. So me I put my money in an envelope and just put it in my merchandise in the trunk,” one man narrated. My immediate neighbour who seemed not to panic during the ordeal with thugs told me that he is quite used to such incidents and knows very well what the robbers want. “I just reserve a good amount for them and it’s encouraged that when they ask you for money, you just pass it on without asking,” said Andrew Sebikaali, a Rwandan trader. He told me a story of a Burundian woman who when confronted by thugs claimed not to have any money on her, but after checking her, she was found to have hidden it. Consequently the thugs shot her to make her an example to all the others who had intentions of hiding the money. As we rolled into Kigali, I thanked the heavens we had got away unscathed. Contact: kagire_eddie@yahoo.com