Fort Patiko also known as Baker’s Fort is found in Gulu, and was initially built by the Arabs as a slave collection center & market. It is an important historical site that one should visit while touring Northern Uganda.
The Arabs had set up huts in Ocecu hill, the present day Gulu to store their merchandise including slaves. Slaves would carry goods and it became a point of rest in their journey to the coast.
Taken over by Sir Samuel Baker upon his arrival in 1864, the Fort was later used as a military base in efforts towards eliminating slave trade.
The Arabs sold slaves who passed the selection in being healthy, strong, beautiful, and muscular, among others, to Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran among other nations. The selection exercise was done at the Fort Floppy compound, one of the Fort Divisions. The weak and sickly ones would be executed.
However, up to now, stone and concrete structures still stand at the site in Ajulu Parish, Patiko sub-county, Aswa County, Gulu district.
There are dark spots on rocks that are believed to be blood stains of the slaves who were tortured by the Arab dealers that beheaded some of those who could not make it to the market.
Fort Patiko has become a very significant place for cultural attraction and holds a strong historical importance to all black people. Its natural and attractive scenery erases its unpleasant background and offers a chance to everyone to feel part of its history.
Take a trip and be among the many who travel to Fort Patiko to witness and pay respect to those who lost their lives in the horror acts of slave trade.
