Police yet to arrest warder who held Narok prison hostage

A police vehicle entering a prison gate. Police in Narok are yet to arrest a prison warder who held the Narok GK Prison hostage for four hours before he fled. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Constable Osborn Omondi caused drama at the prison after he started shooting indiscriminately, leading to a hostage situation.
  • He threatened to shoot and kill his seniors, protesting disciplinary cases instituted against him.
  • The officer in charge of the prison, Mr Alfred Musila, said the officer was in charge of the prison’s armoury.
  • Mr Musila told the Nation they succeeded in containing the officer and disarmed him.

Police in Narok are yet to arrest a prison warder who held the Narok GK Prison hostage for four hours before he fled.

Narok County Police Commander Jillo Galgalo told the Nation that police were still tracking the officer who is still at large.

“We are doing everything to arrest the officer who fled after the incident. Once arrested he will be charged in court,” said Mr Galgalo.

On Thursday the officer, identified as Constable Osborn Omondi, caused drama at the prison after he started shooting indiscriminately, leading to a hostage situation.

The lunch time incident brought operations in the corrective centre, situated two kilometres away from Narok Town, to a standstill.

He threatened to shoot and kill his seniors, protesting disciplinary cases instituted against him.

FOUR-HOUR SIEGE

The four-hour siege began at 1pm when gunshots rent the air, turning the prison into a no-go zone.

Prison officers on duty were forced to scamper for safety, locking themselves in any available room as the attacker moved around baying for his colleagues’ blood.

The officer in charge of the prison, Mr Alfred Musila, said the officer was in charge of the prison’s armoury.

He armed himself with a G3 riffle and held all within the prison hostage as he shot more than four rounds of ammunition in the air, forcing his colleagues to flee to safety.

“Since it was lunch time the prisoners were in their cells, and the other officers were either in their houses for lunch and a few of them in their workstations within the prison. It is then that the gunshots rent the air,” said Mr Musila.

Mr Musila said he was forced to call for reinforcements from the Narok County Police Commander Jillo Galgalo who brought in police officers to help save the situation.

Mr Musila told the Nation they succeeded in containing the officer and disarmed him.

He said the situation got out of hand when other prison warders ganged up with the culprit and shielded him from being arrested and even aided him to escape on a boda boda.