POLICE in Mukono have arrested two pastors over alleged child abduction.

Rev Sam Dick Bikaise and Pastor James Okello of Christian Evangelical Missionary were arrested on Tuesday after being found with 144 children aged between 3 and 15.

The children were reportedly brought from Kaberamaido and Soroti and were to be taken to Nyamwezi Orphanage Centre in Njeru.

Police officer Wilson Andama said investigations were going on and that the culprits will be charged.

"We have arrested two pastors for abducting children but investigations are still going on," he said.

"We found all those children crammed in one room with no mattresses. We got information that these kids were brought from Kaberamaido and Soroti districts to join an orphanage centre," he said.

The pastors are said to operate Nyamwezi Orphanage Centre as an NGO. Andama hailed residents of Mukono for alerting the Police. He also warned about what he called fake NGOs "mushrooming in many parts of the country."