Bandits defy government’s curfew as they stage a night attack evicting the entire village
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Bandits defy the government’s curfew as they stage a night attack in Turkana county evicting the entire village
Bandits defy the government’s curfew as they stage a night attack in Turkana county evicting the entire village.
Bandits on Sunday night staged yet another attack in Lomelo, Turkana East Sub-County, where they fired indiscriminately and torched a fence around a gated village.
Residents said that just before midnight, the bandits, who are thought to come from the nearby Baringo County, unleashed dread, compelling them to leave their homes and spend the night in one part of the village for protection.
About a week after bandits made audacious raids in Turkana and Baringo counties last Wednesday, this is the seventh attack on the village this month.
“I got out of the house to see a huge fire consuming our fence. Confused and in darkness, everyone was running for their safety, with some assuming responsibility of evacuating children, the elderly, and the disabled from houses near the fence to the centre of the village,” Ms. Sally Ekitela said.
Mr. Sylvester Ekidor, the Lomelo village administrator, said nobody was killed or injured during the attack.
As part of the ongoing multi-agency security operation, Interior Ministry Secretary Kithure Kindiki imposed a 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew in five banditry-prone counties.
But, locals are now wondering how bandits are still attacking them.
According to Mr. Ekidor, the most audacious attacks on the village were on February 6, when four people were killed and two others were injured, and again on February 18, when the village was under siege and gunfire could be heard from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.
He, however, condemned the KDF for not coming to their aid during the Sunday incident.
He added that the bandits had staged a fifth successful attack on the village despite stern warnings from the Kenya Kwanza administration.
In Sunday’s incident, Mr. Ekidor said that villagers slept in the cold as they left their individual homes for fear of attacks.
“Without an operation that is aimed at forcefully disarming the bandits…residents of Lomelo, Nadome, Akujatis, and Napeitom villages will not appreciate the existence of a security operation,” he added.
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Turkana East Sub-County Commissioner Said Safu Shaaban confirmed the incident, saying they are investigating to find out what instigated the Sunday attack.
He said that a security operation is ongoing in the sub-county.
“We can’t just come and start the war. We must, first of all, mobilize and collect intelligence information to know critical areas where urgent attention is required,” Mr. Shaaban added.
Residents of Turkana East say bandits are still reigning supreme, with continued attacks on villages near security camps.
In Turkana South, residents say that the 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew is not yielding results as many don’t sleep in their homes for fear of attacks.
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