MGIPI: Seventeen human skulls buried in metal boxes have been discovered at a suspected shrine in Uganda, police said on Tuesday.
Children searching for firewood outside Kabanga village near Mpigi town, about 40 kilometres away from Kampala, made the discovery on Monday, according to local media.
Police said residents of the area told officers about the presence of metallic boxes containing skulls buried in a shrine.
“We swiftly moved in and dug up the place, and so far we have recovered 17 human skulls,” regional police spokesman Majid Karim told AFP.
“We are conducting more excavations to ensure there are no more skulls other than what we have so far recovered,” he said.
He said the relevant authorities were examining the skulls to determine their sex and age, as well as when they were buried. He asked the public to remain calm, adding some residents had been left in shock.
Karim said the police will probe the matter to establish the circumstances surrounding the recovery of these skulls and who could be responsible for this heinous act. He added it is not clear how the skulls reached the site.
Local media reported residents as saying that people had gathered at the shrine to worship.
Police said the owner of the site is on the run, as he was booked in a separate case involving the murder of a prominent traditional Baganda leader, entrepreneur Daniel Bbosa.
The killing was reportedly carried out by hired gunmen in Kampala as Bbosa returned home from work in February this year. The densely populated Mpigi district remains semi-rural, with agriculture dominating local trade.
Coffee and bananas are the major crops of the region and staple foods. There is also a major road linking the villages to Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania.
