Bandits kill two, drive away goats

Bullet cartridges captured during a suspected bandit attack. [File, Standard]

Two people have been killed and hundreds of goats and sheep stolen following a bandit attack at a village in Isiolo County.

The incident, at Garse Dabata in Gotu location, took place on Friday evening and is on the eastern bank of Ewaso Nyiro River.

It reportedly took the villagers by surprise as the raiders rounded up nearly 700 goats and sheep before killing the two who were said to be herding the animals at that time.

The County Police Commander Isaac Sang said a reinforced security team was pursuing the attackers, with preliminary reports indicating the attackers had crossed the nearby Ewaso Nyiro River.

The duo was buried at Gotu trading centre on Saturday in accordance with the Muslim rites.

By Saturday evening, Gotu Senior Chief Abdullahi Bagaja said 180 of the stolen animals had been recovered.

Omar Shariff, an elder from the Somali community, said herders with thousands of livestock grazing on both banks of the river were exposed to external attacks, allegedly being carried out by bandits from a neighbouring county.

During the Friday incident, it was reported that there were only two National Police Reservists (NPR) in the remote and vast location, a scenario that Mr Shariff said made the herders vulnerable to such attacks.

" We have lost many lives in Gotu and on the other side of the Ewaso Nyiro River (in the past), and this ( latest killings) would not, unfortunately, be the last until the State takes serious measures to secure the grazing zones," said Shariff.

He claimed that there had never been an arrest of suspected bandits in previous incidents, adding that only a few of the stolen animals were usually recovered.

" Thousands of livestock stolen from herders grazing in the area have been stolen by rustlers from the neighbouring county over the last five years, and no recovery has been made," he noted.

The official said there were hundreds of police, including the General Service and Anti-Stock Theft units, sent to counter activities of rustlers in Isiolo and Meru, adding that little has been done with regard to stopping or minimising the menace.

"From Gambella to Shab, Kachuru, Mutuati, Magado and Gotu, we have the security team but still the bandits cross the river and come to attack innocent herders," added Shariff.

The Ministry of Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen had ordered an operation in parts of four Counties of Samburu, Laikipia, Isiolo and Meru twice, but leaders from Isiolo and Meru said no such exercise was undertaken.