Albino killers murder two accomplices

Story courtesy of The Citizen Newspaper, Tanzania

Unidentified people have killed two suspected contract killers of albinos who were being hunted by the police force in Mwanza Region.

Bodies of the suspects, Magessa Makala, 46, and Magole Nagabona, 35, were found abandoned in a bush at Ihebo village in Ukerewe District at around 10:00am on Sunday, Mwanza regional police commander, Jamal Rwambow, confirmed yesterday.

Sources in Ukerewe believe the duo were killed by their colleagues in the crime for fear of being named as was the cases with the deceased suspects who were named by their colleagues, who were nabbed with an albino organ, while scouting for a market for the bone in the city.

"It's true that we were searching for the deceased suspects whose names I could not reveal when their colleagues were arrested about a week ago for fear of interfering with investigation," Commander Rwambow admitted yesterday.

Mr Rwambow said it was not true that the deceased suspects committed suicide as misleading reports widely circulated in Ukerewe District at the weekend, hinting that the murderers had probably planned the killings in order to confuse the public and ongoing investigation.

"Bodies of the deceased suspects indicated that they were stabbed by sharp objects," he said.

Two people, a resident of Bugula in Ukerewe District, a resident of Mkudi Mlimani suburb situated at Ghana area in Mwanza City, were on August 13 nabbed with a bone believed to be of an albino at Sun City Guesthouse also in the city.

The two suspects who are still in police custody, who also serve as traditional healers, named their colleagues during an interrogation with police officers in the city.

They admitted receiving the albino bone from the deceased suspects, who brought it to the city for them to look for a lucrative market for the albino organ.