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DC Refutes Terror Reports As Villagers Call for Rescue
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 17 July 2007 23:33
The area has been plagued by cases of extra-judicial killings, which have led to tension. The incidents are being blamed on Kisungu sungu and the police.
Up to 50 people have reportedly been killed since last year, besides the many cases of rape, property destruction and maiming of innocent people.
Between May and June last year, at least 33 people were killed. Some of the suspects arrested have since been freed by the courts - some as recently as last week - for lack of evidence.
The security situation has since been on a downward spiral and, as recently as July 6 - just two weeks ago - a man was gunned down in an incident in which residents claim police were involved, but which the DC, Mr Abdullahi Leloon, dismisses as a normal robbery, yet it is alleged that the police were seen in the area at the time of the murder.
But security bosses have maintained that a vigilante group is necessary if the insecurity in the area is to be contained. "There have been extra-judicial killings in Suneka since May last year. These killings, which seem to have the full backing of the administration and the entire security apparatus, are being carried out by the notorious Kisungu sungu," says a resident.
The awe-struck residents, who would not even want to be seen talking to a journalist over the group, say the group was formed by the administration with the tacit approval of the District Security Committee, and detailed to crack down on suspected criminals. "But it immediately turned into a vicious militia gang that extorts money from people, executes them, rapes women and destroys property," residents said last week.
Suspected criminals are kidnapped and then executed - sometimes in the presence of the police - without being taken through the due process of the law. Others have had their houses burned down for allegedly being friends or relatives of criminals.
Those who have tried to seek redress from the police have ended up being arrested and taken to court on trumped up charges of either murder or robbery.
Such was the fate of two brothers, who were charged with robbery with violence after they went to report that their houses had been burned and their wives and daughters raped.
The situation was so bad by the time the group took root, more than 30 people had already been executed in cold blood, many houses burned down and women raped.
Mr Abisinia Asiago, for instance, was kidnapped at night along with his son and tortured in the bush. His son was then ordered to chop off his father's head or else he would be killed. He did it, but it is an experience from which he will have nightmares forever.
Mr James Mayore Onduko was kidnapped from his compound, where he was slashed and taken down the river, tied to a tree and his head chopped off, while Mr Boy Okong'o had his neck snapped before the head was chopped off and his body dumped at the Iyabe trading centre.
In Bomorenda, Andrew Onsando had his private parts chopped off in what was thought to be a ritual killing, while Kennedy Osano was beaten to death and his body dumped near the Gesonso trading centre.
The family of Mr Martin Miruka Onchengo of Bokeire sub-location is still at a loss since their son was beaten and finally shot dead in front of senior administration officials. The body was secretly buried at a cemetery in Kisii town.
These are just a few of the murder cases, and in most cases, the families were not allowed to bury their relatives. Sometimes, the group would go back, hunt down and kill every male member of their victim's family, before destroying property and chasing the women out of the homes.
Besides these, there are extra-judicial killings that residents blame on the police. On July 9 last year, for instance, two boys were shot dead by CID officers. They were arrested in Kisii town at around 8.30pm as they went to seek medication after Tom's colleague had been injured by a sharp object in a neighbour's house. Just as they were being attended to at the Kisii General Hospital, the officers stormed the outpatient wing and arrested them, claiming they were robbery suspects on the run. They were taken to the police station and thrown into the cells. Some 30 minutes later, they were removed from the cells and shot dead just outside the station.
In February last year, two people, whose names were given only as Choti and Nyaberi were arrested on suspicion that they were robbers. Their relatives, desperate to have them freed, are said to have even gone to the extent of bribing the police with Sh20,000, but after the officers took the bribe, they led the young men to a place called Manyikwa, where the suspects were shot dead.
Other than the extra-judicial killings, there has been destruction of untold proportions. By last month, marauding youths had burnt an estimated 500 houses, displaced 2,000 people from their homes and destroyed several acres under crop. The residents also accuse the vigilante group of executing those who are opposed to its activities. Women, whose husbands have been killed, are not allowed to talk to anyone not known to the gang, and visitors must identify themselves well to the vigilantes or else they would be killed.
However, local police chief Joseph Lemangi denies all this.
