Weird tales on why officers perished in Tana orgy

By Paul Gitau

As a new wave of bloody violence broke out in the Tana Delta District early this week, questions are being raised about the high toll among security agents with reports that none of the nine slain officers had been shot.

“None of the bodies we saw bore gunshot wounds,” said an aid official who inspected corpses before the arrival of a police helicopter.

Four General Service Unit (GSU), four Administration Police (AP) officers and one from the regular police department were killed by people who appear to have studied their movements and routine.

According to an official who cannot be named for his own safety, all the bodies bore machete, spear or knife injuries to the back of their heads or on the skulls, suggesting the officers were all ambushed from behind.

“Intention of the attackers was to kill or disable the officers as fast as possible and with a single blow,” said a distraught officer who escaped the killing by acting dead.

He still lost his gun and suffered a spear wound in the stomach.

Intelligence officers are still baffled with the heavy death toll of police officers from supposedly light armed raiders who swarmed the remote village in broad daylight.

There are further questions on why well trained officers including the General Service Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit of the Administration Police and regular police were unable to kill or injure any of the attackers who, not only killed officers but also torched their vehicles and stole their guns.

There were very many theories doing rounds on Monday, some contradictory while others openly ridiculous. Most explained what appeared to be grave mistakes by the 32 officers deployed at Kilelengwani village.

No police officer is willing to say categorically what happened or what mistakes were made. An officer who was caught up in the mayhem confessed that the police underestimated enemy’s capacity and lowered guard.

There are unverified claims the officers did not have guns or that some of their guns did not have firing pins.

“We did not believe that anybody could attack armed officers. Our guns jammed after some of us fired warning shots,” claimed an officer who could not, however explain how all guns could jam at the same time.

He also claimed not to recall whether police fired to deter or kill the raiders.

When this reporter visited the scene before the police bodies were taken away, he discovered that two had been killed inside a classroom and three inside a truck after being struck from behind. The truck was set ablaze.

A theory advanced by a senior officer appears weak.

He claims two officers died in a classroom while trying to defend women and children. There were reports that several attackers were shot and injured or killed but this could not be confirmed.

Another theory suggested that the attackers lured officers to their deaths by pretending they were seeking assistance only for the police to be struck from behind.