Gangsters kill 12 in night raid on village

Makau Musyoki, whose parents were killed in the Wednesday night attack in Nyanyaa village, Kitui County. He escaped death by hiding in a granary. PHOTO/BILLY MUTAI

What you need to know:

  • In one of the attacks, the gangsters raided the home of Mr Munyoki Syengo, a trader, and hacked him and his wife to death. Two of their daughters sustained serious panga cuts to the head.
  • Near Katitika primary school, the gang broke into Mr Nzomo Mulei’s house and killed him and his wife Mutei. The couple’s five children who were sleeping in a separate house managed to escape.
  •  Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu and senior police officers, County AP Commander Adan Abdullah and County Commissioner Moffat Kangi visited the affected village and promised to track down the killers.

At least 12 people were hacked to death in an orgy of violence at a remote village in Mwingi region of Kitui County.

Armed gangsters stormed three homesteads at Nyanyaa location and attacked the villagers on Wednesday night.

Ten of those killed were from three families and included three children while the other two victims were a school boy and a man who bumped into the attackers as they left the village.

Villagers said the five-man gang was led by a notorious ex-convict from the area who was recently released from Kamiti maximum prison early this year through a presidential pardon.

The suspect, who was identified by survivors, had been serving a sentence for murder and robbery with violence, said the villagers.

The villagers pursued the gangsters for more than 50 kilometres and lynched three while two escaped.

By the time of going to press, no arrests had been made but police were still pursuing the two, including the ex-convict, who fled into the nearby Endui hills.

Police said the raiders, armed with pangas, axes and machetes, seemed to be well-coordinated as they went from door-to-door searching for specific targets.

Two of the affected homes are adjacent to each other while the third, belonging to a businessman, is three kilometres away.

In one of the attacks, the gangsters raided the home of Mr Munyoki Syengo, a trader, and hacked him and his wife to death. Two of their daughters sustained serious panga cuts to the head.

The trader’s two domestic workers who responded to the couple’s shouts for help were also killed.

Mr Syengo’s 12-year-old son, Makau Musyoki, escaped unhurt by hiding in an empty granary.

The gang then descended on the home of Mr Munyoki Musyoka, some three kilometres away where they killed him and his three children, aged between five and 14 years.  

Mr Musyoka’s injured wife managed to escape and is undergoing treatment at Mwingi General Hospital.

According to neighbours, the ex-convict is a brother of Mr Musyoka and both were serving prison terms but fell out after the victim quit crime and converted to Christianity.

Near Katitika primary school, the gang broke into Mr Nzomo Mulei’s house and killed him and his wife Mutei. The couple’s five children who were sleeping in a separate house managed to escape.

In the fourth incident, the killer gang met a school boy and a man at dawn on the foot path they were using to escape and hacked them to death.

Their bodies were discovered in the morning and police believe the victims may have recognised the raiders.

Kitui County Police Commander Cheruto Githinji said the attacks took place between 1am and 3am.

 Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu and senior police officers, County AP Commander Adan Abdullah and County Commissioner Moffat Kangi visited the affected village and promised to track down the killers.

The 15 bodies, including the three lynched gangsters, were taken to Mwingi Hospital Mortuary.