Witnesses narrate ordeal after bandits ambush police

A police helicopter lands at Lomelo Dispensary in Turkana County on Wednesday to evacuate injured police officers who were ambushed by suspected Pokot bandits in Kasarani along the Kapedo-Lomelo road. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

A wounded survivor of a bandit attack that killed three police officers on the border of Turkana and Baringo counties on Friday recounted his ordeal.

Amos Maina, the driver of the Land Cruiser that carried five policemen, a female passenger and a senior education official, Ibrahim Sheikh, said the 4.30pm attack caught them off-guard.

“We were on our way to Lomelo from Kapedo. The bullets came from all directions,” he said.

The scene of the ambush is surrounded by thickets on both sides, which gave the bandits an advantage. The police officers and their two passengers were not prepared for what lay ahead.

Bad road

The bad road only made matters worse. According to Mr Maina, the ambush came shortly after their vehicle got stuck in the mud.

Maina is lucky to be alive. The attackers first aimed at the driver’s side, firing at least six bullets. Two of these hit him — one in the abdomen and another in the hand. The remaining four hit the head rest of his seat.

The police officers fought back hard but in the intense battle that followed, three of them were shot dead, as was the education official.

By a stroke of luck, Maina managed to get the vehicle out of the mud and, still bleeding, drive away under the hail of bullets.

“I drove using only one hand as I used the other to try and stop the bleeding,” he said.

As the gunfight was going on, two back-up teams were closing in on the scene.

A Quick Response Team of Administration Police came from Lomelo while from Kapedo, a team of elite General Service Unit (GSU) officers closed in.

Outgunned them

The Quick Response Team was first to arrive but the bandits outgunned them, injuring a number of policemen in the process.

The gunfight only ended when the GSU officers arrived with more firepower.

By the time the last shot was fired, four people were dead.