Bandits on Sunday night staged yet another attack in Lomelo, Turkana East Sub-County, where they fired indiscriminately and torched a fence around a gated village.
According to residents, the bandits, suspected to be from neighbouring Baringo County, unleashed terror just before midnight, forcing them to leave their homes and spend the night in one area of the village for their safety.
This is the fifth attack on the village this month, carried out barely a week after bandits had staged daring attacks in Turkana and Baringo counties last Wednesday.
“I got out of the house to see a huge fire consuming our fence. Confused and in darkness, everyone was running for their safety, with some assuming responsibility of evacuating children, the elderly, and the disabled from houses near the fence to the centre of the village,” Ms Sally Ekitela said.
Mr Sylvester Ekidor, the Lomelo village administrator, said nobody was killed or injured during the attack.
Locals are now questioning how bandits are still carrying out attacks them even after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki declared a 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew in five banditry-prone counties as part of the ongoing multi-agency security operation.
The most daring attacks on the village were on February 6 where four people were killed and two injured, and another one on February 18 when the village was under siege with gunshot ringing the air from 6pm to 10pm, Mr Ekidor said.
In the February 6 attack, the bandits ambushed herders who were taking their livestock to graze in the nearby hills, which is currently the most reliable source of pasture for drought-hit border area.
In Sunday’s incident, Mr Ekidor said that villagers slept in the cold as they left their individual homes for fear of attacks. He accused security forces of not coming to their aid following the attack.
“Without an operation that is aimed at forcefully disarming the bandits…residents of Lomelo, Nadome, Akujatis, and Napeitom villages will not appreciate the existence of a security operation,” he added.
According to Ms Cynthia Ekai, another resident, most of their livestock have been stolen in sustained attacks.
“We fear that there is a plot for an arson attack if we don't move out of the village. The bandits are on a mission to ensure that they forcefully evict us from the village so that they can occupy it,” she claimed.
Lomelo called for beefing up security in the area, saying they currently rely on three police reservists who are always overpowered by the bandits.
Mr Ekidor said residents can’t freely fetch water and firewood or graze their remaining livestock, which are getting weak.
Turkana East Sub-County Commissioner Said Safu Shaaban confirmed the incident, saying they are investigating to find out what instigated the Sunday attack.
“We can't just come and start the war. We must, first of all, mobilise and collect intelligence information to know critical areas where urgent attention is required,” Mr Shaaban added.
Residents of Turkana East say bandits are still reigning supreme, with continued attacks on villages near security camps.
In Turkana South, residents say that the 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew is not yielding results as many don't sleep in their homes for fear of attacks.
Last Thursday night, there were gunshot sounds at Nadapal village near Kainuk police station, behind Kainuk Mixed Secondary School, and near RCEA Church, said Masari Abongon, a resident of Kainuk.
“People were running out of the affected villages towards main shops on the main road. We thought that a curfew was imposed to ensure there is no movement. Why are we forced to spend the night in the cold and yet there is a curfew that the security team should capitalise on to flush out bandits?” Ms Abongon asked.
Another resident, Simon Nyang'alem, said that during the attack, the bandits capitalised on the fear they impose on residents.
He noted that security officers only patrol to ensure people are observing the curfew, but moments after they retreat, bandits launch their attacks.
