Police ordered to deal with armed gangs

Police officers in Coast have been directed to use “everything in their disposal’ to deal with armed gangs responsible for a spate of killings in different parts of the region.

Coast provincial police officer, Aggrey Adoli said the officers have been properly briefed on precautions to take when dealing with machete -wielding gangs intending to commit attacks.

“We have issued firm instructions to our officers that they should not let anybody carrying weapons to cause deaths and destruction of property and they shall be present in large numbers where there is a public gathering,” Mr Adoli said in an interview.

He added: “Our officers will use maximum government equipment in their hands to protect lives and property. We don’t mean shoot to kill because that is wrong under the new constitution but we will deal with them.”

Political rallies organisers have also been instructed to secure police permit three days before their events to allow Officers Commanding Police stations put in place elaborate security measures.

“For private meetings, we are asking for screenings of all participants and alert police in case anyone is found with weapons,” he added.

Last week, four people were killed and several others seriously injured when a gang of youth wielding machetes attacked a meeting being addressed by Fisheries Minister Amason Kingi at Mtwapa, Kilifi County. Read (Four dead, minister escapes injury in Mtwapa campaign tour)

The attack came a day after a Daily Nation report revealed the mushrooming of militia groups across the Coast region, some of them having political agendas.

Two weeks ago, a group killed a villager who had led the police to their hideout, triggering a revenge attack by the villagers during which they killed 14 gang members.

The villager stumbled on the militia group as it administered an oath of allegiance to nearly 30 young men in a forest in Kaloleni, Kilifi County.

Three weeks earlier, an administration police officer was hacked to death by an unknown group of people in Simanya village, Tiribe division in Kwale County.

And at the weekend there was heavy presence of General Services Unit (GSU) personnel alongside regular and administration police officers during two separate political rallies addressed by United Democratic Forum (UDF) Presidential aspirant Musalia Mudavadi in Kilifi County.

The regional police boss stressed that they have reliable intelligence information to link those attacks to Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) and warned the separatist outfit that they would not be allowed to continue intimidating security agencies.

He cautioned local politicians not to be quick on the defense side of the group without critically studying their hidden agenda.

“Most leaders at the coast are seen to support MRC. The other day when Mr Kingi was attacked and his body guard killed, very few condemned the incident. They should be united to advise them to follow legal process to push their grievances.”

Mr Adoli added: “We don’t want blame games because there are a lot of people who blame others and yet they have shown little to assist us deal with criminals within our midst. We require serious public involvement through community policing.”

He challenged parents not to abdicate their responsibilities urging them to be fully aware of the kind of income generating activities their children  are involved in in order to counsel them against ill minded people with intention to use them to commit crime.