Injured officer in Turkana shooting flown to Nairobi as KNEC airlifts papers

TURKANA, KENYA: The police officer who was injured in banditry attack along Lomelo-Kapedo road in Turkana East Sub County has been airlifted to Nairobi for specialised treatment.

The injured officer was among the eight police officers who were escorting KCSE examination papers to Kapedo examination centre in Turkana East Sub County when bandits attacked their vehicle.

The bandits ambushed the officers on Monday afternoon at Kasarani area between Lomelo- Kapedo and engaged them in a heavy fire exchange before they burnt down the car and KCSE examination papers.

A police chopper that delivered another batch of examination papers to replace the burnt one airlifted the injured officer to Nairobi for treatment.

A security source who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to talk to the press said there was a probability that more than one officer was injured during a fire exchange with bandits. The source further said there was fear that the bandits escaped with some of the examination papers before they set car a blaze.

Turkana woman representative Mrs. Joyce Emanikor said the bandits may have escaped with the examination paper raising high possibility of examination leak.

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"I call upon KNEC to nullify this week's examination because we suspect the bandits stole the papers and they are likely to sell them out", Mrs. Emanikor said.

By the time of going to the press the fate of the other seven officers who scampered for their safety remained unclear even as County Police commanders referred the matter to Inspector General's (IG) office in Nairobi.

An intelligent source said heavy security personnel drawn from the parts of Turkana County have been deployed to the ground to track down the bandits.

Turkana County Police Commander Emmanuel Karisa confirmed that a contingent of security personnel was deployed to banditry hotspots. 

"Our officers are on the scene of the crime. We are on the ground trying to comb the area. We have secured the area until we apprehend the culprits", Karisa said.

Tension remains high in Kapedo trading centre as four schools were indefinitely closed in the area in fear of banditry attack.

Locals claimed some teachers have fled to the neighbouring Marigat town about 40 km away fearing for their lives.

Turkana County education director Dr.Nicodemus Anyang said the examination of the 25 student of Kapedo mixed secondary school was delivered in the morning (Tuesday) by a police chopper and the students sat for English papers with heavy security officers manning the examination centre.

"We have no cause to worry, the examination was delivered safely and the students wrote it in the morning without any hitch", Dr.Anyang said.