Tension is brewing in Burat ward, Isiolo County following the killing of three people, among them a seven-year-old boy in cattle rustling incident at the Lowangishu hills near Loruko settlement area yesterday.
During the incident, 203 cows and 21 camels belonging to herders from Loruko and Ngarendare villages were stolen by the attackers believed to be from the same County (Isiolo), while 35 cows and two camels sustained gunshot wounds or died.
According to Loruko area manager Raman Lengukuai, the armed attackers struck at around 7.15 in the evening, opening fire at a Manyatta where the livestock had just returned from the watering point, and a gunfight ensued before the attackers managed to drive away the herd. Two bandits were killed while a seven-year-old boy who was at the Manyatta at the time of attack was also caught in the cross fire and killed on the spot, bringing the death toll to three.
Ramiti Lengirnas, an elder from Loruko area who lost 65 cows during the attack appealed to the Government security agencies to move with speed and recover the stolen animals, claiming that the local community had been impoverished by the attack. He claimed that contrary to past reports that it was the Samburu Community Morans who usually carry out attacks on their neighbors, yesterday’s incident proved otherwise as it was armed bandits suspected to be from the neighboring Turkana Community who carried out the raid and two of them were killed in the process.
Isiolo County Assembly Deputy Speaker David Lemantile who visited the attack victims at the Lowangishu hills condemned the incident, and called upon the Government security agencies to move with speed and ensure that justice is served, beginning with recovery of all the stolen animals and handing them back to their rightful owners who have been rendered poor through the attack.
Lemantile, who is also the MCA for Oldonyiro ward asked the affected herders from Loruko and Ngarendare villages to remain calm and desist from planning a retaliatory attack, arguing that revenge attacks end up in an unending cycle of raids and killings, and no one emerges victorious.
He challenged the pastoralist communities in the region to have a sitting and agree on how best they can share the available pasture resources in peace, and end the worrying trend of ethnic animosity, attacking and killing each other.
He noted that yesterday’s attack involved a community from Isiolo attacking another community from the same county, and urged the County Commissioner, County Police Commander and even the County Governor to take charge and ensure that the stolen animals are recovered, and bring the conflicting communities together to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.
Lemantile also pointed an accusing finger to the security agencies in the area, claiming that there are police posts such as Mlango and Alamach surrounding the affected area, questioning how a community can plan and execute such an attack without the knowledge of the Government Security Intelligence.
He said that out of the three people injured during the attack, only one is admitted in hospital, while the other two only sustained minor injuries that they are nursing at home.
