Twenty-three people have been arrested by security in Adjumani district for illegally opening up settlements in East Madi Wildlife Reserve in Lulai sub-village in Apaa Township.
The group was arrested by a joint security team comprising police and the army, who rounded them up on Sunday afternoon and whisked them off to Juka Police Post.
According to Godfrey Opwonya Benson, the Apaa Township Defense Secretary, the operation followed a tipoff from the community about the strange activities taking place in the reserve.
He explains that the suspects are part of the more than 200 people who had split into groups of about twenty and pitched camp in the game reserve for the last three days.
The occupants who claim to be from Adjumani Town Council, said that they decided to acquire land since the area is vast and seems abandoned.
Adjumani Resident District Commissioner Peter Taban said he was yet to get a report on the arrests, but supports the arrest of the suspect, saying that Lulai Village is within a protected area.
