Drama As Police Officers Flee Checkpoint Over Cobra-Uganda
Police officers manning Sofia Police checkpoint in Busia Town were on Wednesday sent scampering for safety after discovering a three-metre long cobra in one of the bags they were checking.
According to the officers, the owner of the bag, who was crossing the border from Uganda to Kenya through the Sofia porous border, escaped after being summoned to have his bag subjected to a routine search.
Mr Jackson Bwire, who was at the checkpoint, said police officers fled from the bag, which was brown in colour, without ascertaining its contents.
“I have seen policemen breaking up riots, but little did I know that they fear for their lives; despite having guns, I saw them fleeing from the bag like children,” Mr Bwire said.
One of the officers, who declined to be named, said they panicked because they never expected someone to carry such a venomous snake in a bag.
“God was on my side, otherwise that snake was going to bite me if I had placed my hand inside [the bag]”.
The officers later returned and fastened the bag before the reptile could crawl out. It was later cautiously taken to Busia Central Police Station awaiting relocation by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Mr John Achila, the resident district commissioner, said they are determined to establish the person who was in possession of the snake, its destination and purpose.
By Monitor.
