Baringo head teacher killed in suspected bandit attack
A deputy head teacher was found dead with gunshot wounds in Tuluk shopping centre on January 14, 2024.
A deputy head teacher at Tuluk Primary School was on Sunday morning found dead with gunshot wounds a few metres from Tuluk shopping centre.
According to locals, Elijah Simotwo, 57, was last seen at the shopping centre around 10pm on Saturday.
Baringo County Police Commander Julius Kiragu said the teacher's body was found in the morning with gunshot wounds.
"The circumstances under which the teacher was killed have not been established, locals claim that he was last seen at the shopping centre at 10 pm. We are still investigating to know exactly what happened," said Mr Kiragu.
The killing has raised tensions in the bandit-prone village in Baringo North, with locals claiming they cannot go about their daily activities for fear of armed criminals roaming freely in the villages.
The incident comes barely five days after five people were killed by bandits in the same locality.
The incident happened on Tuesday when three members of a family, including a two-year-old child, were shot dead while three others were seriously injured in a fresh bandit attack along the Yatya-Chemoe road in Baringo North sub-county.
The 11am attack happened as four family members were riding a motorcycle from Marigat town in Baringo South to Chemoe village for an initiation ceremony when they were ambushed and shot at by assailants suspected to be from neighbouring Tiaty constituency.
In the attack, Victor Yego, 30, his wife Valentine Yego, 28, and their two-year-old child died after being sprayed with bullets, while another passenger, a Form Three student, and the motorcyclists sustained serious gunshot wounds.
The three injured are recuperating at the Baringo County Referral Hospital in Kabarnet.
In a separate incident on the same day, two other people were shot dead by bandits during a routine patrol at Natan border village, about eight kilometres from where the first incident took place.
