By Lucas Lukumbo
The calm and tranquil waters of Lake Victoria belie a horrifying situation that people living near its banks are facing, in the form of ferocious killer crocodiles lurking in the shallows.
According to reports, hardly a month passes without these predators pouncing on and snatching human beings who venture to the edge of Africa’s largest lake - also the world’s largest tropical lake - to fetch water, wash domestic appliances, go fishing, or make other use of the available waters.
The latest recorded attack was on January 16 this year when eight-year old Avelina Vitus, a Standard Two pupil, was fatally ambushed by a crocodile while in the company of her sisters Mispina (16), Adventina (10) and Sophia (6) in Chelameno village, Nyamboge ward, Geita Region.
Narrating the ordeal, eldest sister Mispina said they were washing their school uniforms in the lake in readiness for class the next day when the crocodile pounced.
“We heard a big splash of water behind us. When I turned back, I saw a huge croc dragging my younger sister away as she struggled in vain to disentangle herself from its clutch,” a tearful Mispina recalled.
The sisters backed away and yelled for help. Other local residents soon assembled at the scene, and a search for the crocodile and its victim was immediately launched, coordinated by the village chairman Majura Ruhwirabache.
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