Police in Uganda have arrested an IT student and his accomplice, who filmed him demonstrating how he uses his IT skills to modify serial numbers of stolen phones and laptops to prevent their tracking.
The viral video sparked outrage on social media, especially among thousands of Ugandans who had their phones snatched from them in traffic jams.
This caused the police to initiate a manhunt for the culprits, and by Tuesday afternoon, both of them were behind bars at the central police station in Kampala.
TikTok likes land youth in jail https://t.co/N3TIQdENLW #MonitorUpdates
— Daily Monitor (@DailyMonitor) May 14, 2024
Patrick Onyango, a Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, informed the media that the two admitted to recording the video to earn views and likes on social media.
Mr. Onyango has dismissed the allegations, stating that he will seek charges against the two for computer misuse and public nuisance in order to serve as a lesson to future offenders. He said the suspect also claimed to be an ICT student on the viral video, which was confirmed to be accurate.
The youth in the popular video is an IT student at Nakawa, a public tertiary institute in Kampala that provides ICT-related courses.
“We now have to determine whether the criminality claim he makes in the viral video is likewise real.That is why we are keeping him and his colleague, who was recording him, until we investigate,” Mr. Onyango stated.
Mr. Onyango claims that there have been multiple occasions when people have uploaded material on social media claiming to have committed crimes that are not real.
He added that the police frequently track stolen phones by their original serial numbers, and once tampered with, it is impossible to trace them.
This means that the majority of stolen phones will not be retrieved.
The two recorded a video bragging about how easy it was for them to bust open the locks of stolen iPhones and Android phones before selling them to unsuspecting purchasers.
Also read:“I Warned You” Oga Obinna Speaks On Brian Chira’s Arrest