Tension has gripped Webuye following the killing of two security guards two days ago.
Another guard is fighting for his life in hospital after sustaining serious injuries following a series of violent robberies that has shocked residents.
In the first incident in Lugulu market, a guard manning a restaurant was brutally killed by an armed gang on Sunday night. Two 24-inch TV sets were stolen.
About two hundred metres away at Lugulu Day Secondary School, another guard sustained serious injuries while fighting off a gang who made away with a TV set from the staffroom. The injured guard is admitted to Webuye County Hospital.
At Misikhu Friends Secondary School, yet another watchman was killed in a robbery attempt that was thwarted after his colleague raised the alarm.
A resident points at a place where a guard was killed at The Petbik Restaurant in Lugulu market on Sunday night.
Photo credit: Brian Ojamaa | Nation Media Group
Residents are now pointing an accusing finger at security personnel led by Bungoma East Sub-county police boss Valerian Obore. They allege that he has failed to enforce night patrols.
Confirming the incidents, a local chief, Mr Paul Kisuya, urged residents to report suspicious individuals to the police. He said this was the second time Lugulu Secondary was being robbed.
The thieves, he said, could be having a ready market for stolen television sets. Traders are now asking County Commissioner Samuel Kimiti to take action.
Mr Joseph Pepela, a security guard at Lugulu Secondary, said he heard a scuffle around 3am at one end of the school. He rushed there only to see two people fleeing the scene, and his colleague injured.
“I found him lying in a pool of blood and I called an ambulance from Lugulu Mission Hospital,” Mr Pepela said.
Mr Stephen Namutala, a businessman in Lugulu market, blamed police for not making regular night patrols given that there is a curfew in place.
Another trader, Mr Samwel Wekesa, called for more police to be sent to the area.
Lugulu Day Secondary School where a guard sustained serious injuries while fighting off a gang who made away with a TV set from the staffroom.
Photo credit: Brian Ojamaa | Nation Media Group
The attacks come barely three weeks after unknown assailants at Kivaywa Boys High School in neighbouring Kakamega County killed four guards.
Meanwhile, a mob at Mewa estate on Bungoma town outskirts, lynched a suspect on Sunday. The man, accompanied by two accomplices, was described as a just-released jailbird, connected with a spate of robberies.
Bungoma South police boss Benjamin Kimwela said the three broke into Ms Dorcas Nasimiyu’s home but were cornered by neighbours.
“We are calling upon anyone with any information about these criminals to come forward. We will treat such information with confidentiality,” Mr Kimwela said.
The Petbik Restaurant in Lugulu market where a guard was killed on Sunday night.
Photo credit: Brian Ojamaa | Nation Media Group
The robberies come amid residents’ concerns at escalating cases of insecurity in Bumula and Bungoma towns that have left dozens dead.
