A thirty one year old man is nursing bullet wounds at the Busia District Hospital following injuries sustained when he was hit by a stray bullet at Bwamani village, Busia District.

According to the victim Kizito Wanyama, he was shot by the security officers as they were trying to scare away irate residents who wanted to lynch a suspected Alshabab criminal who was trying to sneak into the country illegally.

“We had caught a Somali national who was on a motorbike sneaking into the country through an illegal route on the Busia-Uganda border and managed to inform the police officers,” said Wanyama, adding that efforts by the security officers to protect the individual from the angry mob received resistance as the residents hauled stones at the police demanding to lynch him.

He however, expressed concern over why one of the security officers from the AP camp in the area shot directly at him during the incident which occurred at around 11 pm despite having worked together for some time in efforts of maintaining security.

“I am surprised by how this officer turned his gun on me yet we having been working together during the community policing exercise in this village in a bid to beef up security,” said the victim while speaking to West FM at the hospital.

Bwamani residents raised concern over the escalating cases of insecurity in the area among them theft of household assets and the rape cases which have been witnessed in the area some few weeks ago.

They blamed the security agents for laxity in their line of duties, a move they said had encouraged aliens to gain entry into the country from the neighboring countries through illegal routes.

“The increasing spate of terror attacks in the country will force us to take the law into our hands if at all the concerned authorities do not perform their duties of maintaining security,” said James Ouma, adding that all individuals entering the country should use the legal route at the border.

Some of the local residents have also directed their blame to some of the motorbike operators for involving themselves in the illegal business of ferrying the aliens despite being some of the mostly affected group in their line of duties following attacks that led to death of their colleagues.

However, the suspected Alshabab criminal identified as Yahye Khalif Hassan is set to be arraigned in court to answer charges against him.