LAMU: GSU called in to quell fracas at NYS camp

A fracas between members of the National Youth Service and their Commanding Officer at Hindi-Magogoni NYS camp in Lamu on Tuesday left scores injured when members of the dreaded General Service Unit (GSU) were called in to quell it.

The NYS servicemen are said to have attacked the Commanding Officer only identified as Mr Maingi on Monday night whom they accused of mistreatment and denying to pay them cash they ought to have received from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for participating in the March 4 General Election.

Lamu West Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Mr Joseph Sigei who confirmed the incident termed it an internal affair which will be solved internally.

“The NYS servicemen have been on a go-slow for weeks before Tuesday’s incident”, he said adding that he would confirm the latest developments once he got them.

The Lamu County Commissioner Mr Steve Ikua said he was not aware of the incident but promised to find out and call back. He did not. Sources in his office, however, confirmed that the administration was aware of the issue.

“Trouble started when the service men attacked their commander. The GSU and other police officers had to be called in to quell the disturbances”, said our source.

The source added that many NYS servicemen were badly injured by the GSU officers and many fled into the darkness but were rescued later.

Reliable sources also said 120 NYS service men had been arrested and transported to Police Headquarters in Nairobi where they would be charged with disobedience.

“A Deputy NYS Director Mr Charles Theuri has been sent to Lamu to begin investigations into the incident”, our sources further said.

A relative of one of the servicemen who called our Mombasa Bureau said his brother and several colleagues had been brutally beaten by the GSU officers.

“They were stripped naked and battered senseless. Some of them were seriously injured but were denied medical treatment and bundled onto three military trucks and ferried to Nairobi”, said the relative.

He said his relative called home on Monday night to narrate the harrowing experience from the GSU officers and asked to be sent some money as he had nothing.

Some of the servicemen are said to have trekked or hiked lifts to Hola NYS camp more than 200 kilometers away to seek assistance.