Fear grips Meru villages over killings

Fear has gripped two villages in Meru following the killing of eight people.

Karindine and Kigane villages are now under a self-imposed curfew with residents closing their businesses earlier than normal following the killings at the weekend.

Women who take their milk to the market in the evening are not doing so any more, said a resident of Kigane Village as he pointed to where four of the victims were hacked to death.

A team of GSU officers have been posted to the area to reinforce security. Investigators from Nairobi and Embu are also in the area to assist in investigating the killings.

On Monday, detectives interviewed relatives and survivors for clues. Information is still scanty on what exactly happened although villagers said the killers might be area residents.

They talked of two people who stabbed anyone they came across as they demanded money and mobile phones from their victims.

The Nation team spoke to two survivors — Mr Eric Bundi and Mr Phenius Mutungi — at Consolata Mission Hospital in Nkubu where they were undergoing treatment.

Mr Bundi, a 22-year-old mason, said he was attacked by two people as he walked from a nearby shop where he had gone to buy candles around 9pm.

Demanded phones

He said the attackers stabbed him in the chest even after handing over his mobile phone and Sh2,000.

“I met two people who asked me in Kiswahili to give up my phone and all the money I had.

“I gave them the money and the phone, but they still went ahead and stabbed me in the chest, leaving me for dead,” Mr Bundi said.

He said when his relatives found him, the attackers had fled the scene.

Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, who is also area MP, termed the attack as a mystery and the first of its kind in the area.

Following leads

He asked police to hasten the investigations to apprehend the killers.

Imenti South police boss Leah Kithei and his colleague in Imenti Central Silvestre Githungo said they were following crucial leads in the hunt for the killers.

The two officers were agreed that the eight people were killed by the same gang, as executions were carried out in a similar manner — by stabbing areas around the chest or abdomen.