The last moments of Ismael Abdi Osman Bayata's life are immortalised in a video showing his stabbing outside a mosque, while restrained to the ground.
A senior officer with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has found himself in trouble after investigations into a murder case placed him at the centre of the matter.
Police say the officer attached to Garissa's KWS office is a prime suspect in the murder of one Ismael Abdi Osman Bayata in Bangale Sub-County, Tana River County. The last moments of his life are immortalised in a video showing his stabbing outside a mosque, while restrained to the ground.
It all began when Bayata reportedly went berserk while at home after returning from Garissa County and Referral Hospital for treatment linked to mental health complications.
According to Bangale Sub-County Police boss Julius Rotich, Bayata fought with his brother at home before he picked a knife and ran out of their compound at around 3pm on Monday.
“Immediately he left, he came across a bodaboda operator along the road and stabbed him, leaving him for dead. Bayata then proceeded to a nearby Mosque in Maramtu village where he attacked worshippers,” Rotich said.
He stabbed several people and tore the Quran, leading to a stampede.
“The windows were broken as people ran for their lives after the attacker stormed in,” the local police boss said.
However, he added, some worshippers managed to subdue Bayata and restrained him.
“The area chief was called and he alerted our officers of the incident and arrest by members of the public. But before we arrived at the scene, reports reached us that a group arrived in the compound and lynched the suspect,” Rotich said.
After the suspect was killed outside the mosque, a video clip emerged showing a man armed with a knife struggling with members of the public, including a chief in uniform. The armed man is seen overpowering a group attempting to restrain him. He then proceeds to stab a man whose hands and legs are tied.
“The man stabbing the suspect while restrained on the ground has been identified as a KWS officer in Garissa. We have summoned him and we shall arrest and charge him with murder,” Rotich said.
“It was initially reported that the suspect had been lynched by a mob. But after the video emerged, it's clear that one man stabbed the suspect to death.”
The KWS officer is said to be the father of the bodaboda operator stabbed to death by Bayata before he entered the mosque.
'No reason to kill him'
However, police inist there was no reason to kill him given that he reportedly had a mental illness and had already been restrained, and therefore was no longer a threat to members of the public.
“The police were to arrest him, take him for a medical assessment to confirm his mental status before he could be charged...not be killed because he had killed someone and attacked people in a mosque,” Rotich said.
When reached for comment, Bangale Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner Elijah Omoyo said the KWS officer's arrest was delayed as security agencies reviewed the security situation in Garissa.
“We are dealing with a community that is extremely complicated. They believe in revenge and we have been waiting to see the outcome of the incident, including causing inter-clan chaos...but luckily the people involved are from one clan,” Omoyo said.
He added: “We shall now have the man recorded stabbing arrested and arraigned at a court of law.”
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