African Lions, Elephants, Buffaloes, Crocodiles and Hippos ....
.... there are plenty of large animals to worry about in Africa, and that's not counting poisonous snakes and insects etc.
However try as I might, I can't bring myself to think of 'Killer Tortoises', but apparently at least one policeman in the Nebbi district of Uganda thinks they are on that long list of things to watch out for.
According to reports, a police officer named Charles Onegiu has reportedly shot a tortoise dead after being attacked by the "aggressive" creature. This attack wasn't at night in the bush but in his own house as he drank a cup of tea. The tortoise must have rushed him, or took him by surprise, very, very, slowly, so he had time to draw his weapon, clean it, reassemble it, load it and shoot the killer dead ... just joking.
Actually, in his own words, "I tried to scare it but the tortoise became very aggressive. I took a stick to chase it but it instead became more violent". After attempting to fend off the tortoise with a plastic chair, he said he "instinctively" drew his firearm and shot it dead. A local Christian group later prayed for Onegiu, "before burning the dead reptile to ashes."
The Nebbi district police commander said that his officer's extreme reaction to the attack may have been down to local superstitions "where people think 'somebody is after me'" .... but even so, a tortoise?
You have to wonder in the 21st century, with TV, the Internet, Newspapers, and education generally available to most, how a police officer can shoot a tortoise to death, as a 'dangerous animal'. But then again after what we have seen in Brazil and other places, we have to assume that ignorance and superstition is the normal lot for most of the human race ....
According to reports, a police officer named Charles Onegiu has reportedly shot a tortoise dead after being attacked by the "aggressive" creature. This attack wasn't at night in the bush but in his own house as he drank a cup of tea. The tortoise must have rushed him, or took him by surprise, very, very, slowly, so he had time to draw his weapon, clean it, reassemble it, load it and shoot the killer dead ... just joking.
Actually, in his own words, "I tried to scare it but the tortoise became very aggressive. I took a stick to chase it but it instead became more violent". After attempting to fend off the tortoise with a plastic chair, he said he "instinctively" drew his firearm and shot it dead. A local Christian group later prayed for Onegiu, "before burning the dead reptile to ashes."
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| Maybe The Police Officer Thought The Tortoise Was Like This |
The Nebbi district police commander said that his officer's extreme reaction to the attack may have been down to local superstitions "where people think 'somebody is after me'" .... but even so, a tortoise?
You have to wonder in the 21st century, with TV, the Internet, Newspapers, and education generally available to most, how a police officer can shoot a tortoise to death, as a 'dangerous animal'. But then again after what we have seen in Brazil and other places, we have to assume that ignorance and superstition is the normal lot for most of the human race ....
I suspect that he was suffering from the same thing as Pistorius, a burning desire to shoot something, a door, a tortoise, whatever presents itself in front of his loaded weapon, and we'll try to justify it later.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe he just had an extreme form of Herpetophobia (or maybe Chelonaphobia), and he just happened to find himself armed, when his worst nightmare was realised ..... or maybe not LOL
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