Revenge killings in Kisii evoke memories of murderous vigilantes

The lynching of five family members in Metembe village of Nyaribari Masaba constituency, Kisii County, on the night of Thursday April 17 on allegations of crime, rekindles memories of similar incidents over the years.  

Locals say the killings appeared meticulously planned and executed by an apparently self-styled vigilante on a revenge mission, following the killing of a young man, James Babu Nyabuga, in the village about a month ago.

The Metembe villagers claimed that a week following the burial of Mr Nyabuga, the suspected vigilantes mobilised on Thursday night, rounded up the family members of the suspects in Mr Nyabuga’s killing and tied them with ropes.

Apparently, Mr Nyabuga’s suspected killers were arrested and released, raising suspicion that their parents, who were among those lynched, may have helped in bailing them out of the justice system.

“One after the other, they hacked them to death, doused their bodies with petrol before setting them alight. Dogs that attempted to attack the vigilantes were not spared…They were equally doused in petrol and set on fire,” added the villager, who spoke in confidence.

These killings reignite debate on the mistrust of the criminal justice system by Kisii residents.  

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Majority of those killed reportedly met their deaths because their family members are accused of engaging in crime.

Villagers claim that youth from the affected family were arrested following the suspected murder incident but were later on released into the community. 

Angered by the authorities’ failure to punish the suspected killers of Mr Nyabuga, the locals mobilised and carried out the extrajudicial killings.

Villagers told journalists that during the funeral of Mr Nyabuga, speakers gave the authorities an ultimatum to either arrest the apparently known suspects or they would “punish” them.

“The authorities were warned that unless they took action and stamped out the crime surge, the people would take the law into their own hands and deal with those they alleged were involved in the slaying of the late Nyabuga, whose killing was itself macabre,” said a villager in Metembe who requested not to be named for fear of retaliation from the community.

Speaking to the media, Masaba North Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Jane Munene condemned what she termed as an unacceptable mob injustice.

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“We have visited the village and are perturbed by what we saw. People were indeed killed. We hear it is mob injustice, which we as the government strongly condemn,” she said.

“Wananchi should not take the law into their hands. Whenever there are security problems, we urge the citizens to come forward and assist the authorities to address it.”

However, villagers who spoke to the Nation said their efforts to work with the government to stop the upsurge of crime in the area had been frustrated by what they described as a combination of corruption and ineptitude on the part of police officers.

Just like it happened in a similar incident Bonchari over two decades ago, the vigilantes in Nyaribari Masaba moved into the suspects’ land and destroyed food crops, cut down trees and set fire to all their houses.

They also did not spare livestock they found in the homes.

Those who were lynched include a father, his wife, his son, his grandson, his daughter-in-law, and a nephew. However, others who were on the hit list fled.

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The villagers were reportedly angered by the move by the police to release Mr Nyabuga’s suspected killers allegedly for lack of sufficient evidence to sustain a prosecution.

Between 2003 and 2010, Bonchari hit the national newspaper headlines after an upsurge of crime triggered the community into forming local vigilantes to deal with the suspected criminals.

Ringleaders of the suspected criminals were banished, their homes burnt down and those who were caught up got lynched and their bodies were not allowed to be buried in the community.

These vicious reactions came about after criminals targeted businesspeople in Suneka. However, those arrested were released for what authorities claimed were lack of evidence to support prosecution.

Metembe is a small village in the northeast of Kisii town sandwiched by the mountainous region of Bong’onta and Ikorongo, a few kilometres from Ramasha that lies on the border of the Gusii and Maa regions.

The region has many learning institutions and local people engage in cash crops, especially growing tea.  

rmbula@ke.nationmedia.com