When the hunter becomes the hunted; police under siege

Police in Nyandarua have arrested a suspected serial killer.  PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Homa Bay County Police Commander Esther Seroney said Constable Felix Yego died in the line of duty last Wednesday.
  • In Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County, a female police officer suffered serious injuries when she was stoned by angry residents last Wednesday.
  • In Kakamega, an MCA teamed up with local youths and arrested two police officers who were said to have been harassing locals and collecting bribes from chang’aa brewers.

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing of a junior police officer in Homa Bay County last week.

The suspects, who are expected to be arraigned, are linked to the lynching of Constable Felix Yego, who was attached to Kobama police post in Ndhiwa sub-county.

County Police Commander Esther Seroney said the officer died in the line of duty last Wednesday.

Mr Yegon was attacked and lynched by an irate mob in Kalwal village. The assailants accused him of being part of a gang that was allegedly seeking to attack a woman being sought by her estranged husband.

ESCAPED LYNCHING

The officer and his colleague had accompanied a man who was trying to get back his wife from another man.

The man and the other officer managed to escape the lynching. A boda-boda operator who had ferried them also escaped.

Ms Seroney said the two suspects are said to have played a major role in the murder of the officer. She said security officers were pursuing other suspects said to have gone into hiding.

In Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County, a female police officer suffered serious injuries when she was stoned by angry residents last Wednesday.

She was part of a contingent of officers targeting errant bar owners still operating despite the ban imposed by the Health ministry and the curfew.

Residents turned against the officers, accusing them of colluding with and protecting selected bar owners, whose premises continued to operate even with the stringent government rules adopted to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The officers arrived at one of the notorious bars in Ol Kalou, a short distance from the Ol Kalou Central assistant county commissioner’s office, to arrest the merrymakers after a protest by residents.

But they took their time to arrest the revellers, sparking outrage from residents, who suspected underhand dealings. The officers used teargas to disperse the crowd gathering at HQ Bar, prompting the angry residents to retaliate by stoning the officers.

OFTEN BEATEN
“The bar is among those that operate even at night despite the ban by both the county and national governments. This is where the police officers also visit to drink,” shouted an angry resident.
The injured officer was rushed to JM Level Four Memorial Hospital, where she received treatment.

In Bomet, three police officers and a civilian are nursing injuries following a thorough beating by wananchi, whom they were allegedly harassing and extorting money from a week ago.

In the incident at Ndanai trading centre in Sotik constituency, 40 rounds of ammunition had to be fired in the air to disperse irate residents who wanted to lynch the officers from the Kibuse Anti-Stock Theft Unit in neighbouring Nyamira County.

The residents also set on fire a motorcycle, registration KMFC 390, which was used by the police officers.

The officers and the boda-boda operator were rushed to Ndanai Sub-County Hospital, where they received treatment, said county police Commander Naomi Ichami.

Chiefs and police officers were also attacked in Chepngaina, Bomet Central, a week ago alongside Nyumba Kumi committee members as they helped enforce the dusk-to-dawn curfew.

In Kakamega, an MCA teamed up with local youths and arrested two police officers who were said to have been harassing locals and collecting bribes from chang’aa brewers in Navakholo sub-county.
They also impounded the officers’ motorcycle and frogmarched them to the Navakholo Police Station, where they handed them over to the station commander.

By George Odiwuor, Waikwa Maina, Vitalis Kimutai and Shaban Makokha