Tension is building up in Songok village, Kases sub-location Kasei in Pokot North sub county after a group of suspected bandits believed to have migrated from Namakat village in the neighboring county of Turkana ambushed Komole Siwa Teremoi, a 31- year old man who was looking after his animals at around 1400hrs on Wednesday, shooting him severally before abandoning his lifeless body at the scene.

Ombolion Chief Joseph Korkimul who rushed to the scene of crime immediately after he was informed says the bandits had organised themselves in different groups, hiding along the tiny and dangerous road that connects Turkwel and Songok waiting for the young man whom he believes he has been on their radar for sometimes now.

According to Mr. Korkimul, the ministry of Interior should consider adding more police reservists in the area to help in calming the tension and being able to keep away bandits.

Mr Korkimul said attacks have become rampant in the recent past calling on the Government to beef up security in the region.

“The NPRs are still few and we have the challenge of recovering stolen livestock,” he said.

Everlyne Shitandi an activist who visited the family of the deceased in Songok to express sympathy and offer some financial support to them, said insecurity has paralyzed development along the corridor and scared away investors.

Ms Shitandi added that many people been killed in border disputes along the Turkwel region but the government and political leaders from the area had not shown any commitments to quell the violence.

Veronica Chenang’at a form four liver who completed her secondary school education this year and the sister to deceased was unable to hold her breath, saying her brother was the only family’s bread winner and his death is a big blow not just to the family but also to her educational journey.

For close to a century now, the conflict between the Pokot and Turkana communities has remained a thorn in the flesh of both the locals and the Government.

The main reason is that residents in the region scrape their living in arid and semi–arid climates that are characterized by unpredictability of rains with resultant scarcity of pasture and water.

These force the inhabitants to survive through nomadic pastoralism where mobility is the key to survival. In the course of movement in search of water and pasture, they fight against each other.

There is also a controversy surrounding the boundary between the two counties which remains unsolved.

This has led to many residents to become victims of merciless bandits who have turned the deadly stretch into a killer border, often pitting both communities against each other.

The insecurity wave that has rocked the region has left more than 8 people killed and ten others injured by gunshots in various hospitals with pain for the last two months.

The situation has been occasioned by rampant insecurity which has seen their livestock, which is a major source of livelihood, wiped out by armed criminals.

The body of the deceased was collected from the scene and taken to kapenguria county referral hospital mortuary.

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