Toll hits 65 after five more die in fresh Lamu raid

What you need to know:

  • The latest attack happened at Pandanguo in  Witu, Lamu West, on Monday night when a gang armed with guns and machetes attacked villagers.
  • Two were killed at Maleli village while the other three were murdered at Ziwa la Taa within Bujira Ranch.
  • Police collected the bodies at about 1.30pm Tuesday and took them to the Mpeketoni sub-county hospital mortuary.
  • Lamu County Commissioner Stephen Ikua convened and emergency security meeting in Lamu Town before flying to the scene accompanied by other officials.

Five more people have been shot dead in Lamu County even as the government says a major security operation is under way in the area to arrest gunmen who massacred 60 people last week.

The latest attack happened at Pandanguo in  Witu, Lamu West, on Monday night when a gang armed with guns and machetes attacked villagers.

Some sources put the death toll at 11 but the Daily Nation could only obtain the names of five victims.

Two were killed at Maleli village while the other three were murdered at Ziwa la Taa within Bujira Ranch.

The ranch is between Witu trading centre and Pandanguo.

All the victims were men. A survivor was critically injured and was being treated at a hospital Mpeketoni.

Witnesses said the victims hands were tied to their backs with ropes. All had their throats slit. And all the bodies had bullet wounds.

Police collected the bodies at about 1.30pm Tuesday and took them to the Mpeketoni sub-county hospital mortuary.

Residents said the victims were killed after they failed to recite Islamic verses as ordered by the gang of about 10.  

The killers left a warning that they would return to execute more people.

The victims were Danson (Daniel) Wabwire, Nyamawi Beja, Karisa Rama (also known as Rasta Karisa), Bernad Njiru and John Jacob.

No one had been arrested in connection with the attack by press time.

Security officials, who asked not to be named, said the killers went from door to door demanding identity cards from their targets before dragging them to a nearby forest and killing them.

Slashing and shooting people

“They were just slashing and shooting people in the forehead,” he said.

A man identified as Jonathan Ngowa survived the raid but sustained panga injuries on the hands and back.

He was taken to Mpeketoni sub-county hospital where he underwent surgery.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Ngowa said that he and five others were dragged from their houses, tortured, had their hands tied at the back and dragged for about 100 metres from the village.

“They then began asking us questions like where our ID cards were. They whipped us for some minutes, all this while we were still tied up.

One of them then stabbed me twice in the neck and behind my head. I fell down in pain,” he said.

The attackers then turned to his two friends and sprayed them with bullets.

“I heard them shoot my friends. When I tried to move I discovered that the ropes used to tie me had been cut loose”.

He took his chances and fled. “‘I would rather die running than wait for them to finish me,’ I told myself.  That’s how I survived,” he said.

He urged the government to enhance security in the entire Lamu County.

“We need police patrols to be increased in Pandanguo. There is also a need for a police post in the area for us to be secure,” he said.

Lamu County Commissioner Stephen Ikua convened and emergency security meeting in Lamu Town before flying to the scene accompanied by other officials.

Reported by Mazera Ndurya,  Kalume Kazungu, Nehemiah Okwembah and Galgalo Bocha