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[KAMPALA, 4 July 2007] - Police in Moyo, Uganda, have shot five students of Itula Secondary School while trying to contain a 'religious war' between Muslims and Christians following the slaughter of a goat. The district Police commander, John Govile, said a Special Police Constable shot directly at the students, severely injuring five of them. "It is a pity that one of our officers used excessive force to stop the students from doing more havoc to the school. "He should have first given a warning and if the students disobeyed, shot in the air. If they had persisted, he would have shot on the ground. It is not allowed to injure any person," said Govile. The school head teacher, Yosam Cadribo, identified the injured as Francis Mulu, Fred Muga, Florence Poni, Irine Fenya and Michael Asobasi. All were admitted in Moyo Hospital. He said three of them were in Senior One. Devastation At the time of going to press, the teachers' staffroom, the kitchen and a heap of school utensils continued to burn in the compound that was also littered with broken sticks. Flies buzzed on patches of fresh blood that dotted the compound. Govile said the students went on rampage at midnight on Sunday when Muslim and Christian students started quarrelling over the slaughter of a goat. In their memorandum, the Christians accused the Muslims of demanding the destruction of the kitchen utensils, claiming that they were un-clean since they were used to cook the meat of a goat slaughtered by a non-Muslim. "The Muslim teachers mobilised their Muslim students, ordered them to raid the kitchen where the Christians were cooking for the inauguration ceremony for the Scripture Union students and impound the utensils and burn them since they were used by 'dirty' people." The students also claimed that the Muslim students mobilised the shooting of the Scripture Union members. "The Muslims clapped and jubilated while more of our brothers and sisters were being shot and tortured by armed men, whom we cannot say were policemen," the memorandum added. 'Religious war' Moyo LC5 chairman Peter Iku Dolo said the students described the strike as an inter-religious war. "The students have been badly influenced. This is not a strike, and never call it strike. It is religious differences engineered by elderly people. It is very painful to see the blood of innocent students in the school compound. This must stop," Dolo warned. He traced the conflict between the Muslims and Christians to 2003 when the two parties clashed over the rights to slaughter animals in Obongi county. Last year, Muslim students of Moyo secondary school went on rampage after rejecting beef, which they said was from a bull slaughtered by a "non-believer". The district Khadi (Muslim leader) for Madi sub-region, Abubakar Kokoa, who attended an emergency meeting at the school, said he was very shocked that students were shot. "This incident where students differences escalate into havoc takes us back to 1954 during the colonial time when schools were run on religious bases by the British. This left the Muslims uneducated until 1964 when Uganda got her independence. The first Ugandan president and prime minister rejected this policy and Muslims started going to school," Kokoa recalled. According to the head-teacher, Itula SS has 300 Muslims out of 963 students. A total of 409 students are Ugandans, while 554 are Sudanese refugees. Further information Freedom of Religion Violence against children and children in conflict with the law
pdf: http://allafrica.com/stories/200707040003.html