Tuesday, February 28, 2023 – Residents of Lomelo, in Turkana County, are up in arms against the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) after bandits evicted them from their village after a night siege.
This comes even as KDF has allegedly intensified operations in the area to flush out bandits.
According to reports, the attack began minutes before midnight on Sunday, forcing the residents to leave their homes, whereas some spent the night in the cold and others fled to the neighbouring village for safety.
The attackers opened fire aimlessly before torching the village fence aimlessly as KDF took cover.
Residents who spoke to the press intimated that they woke up to screams and a huge fire that had engulfed the fence.
“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,” one of the residents stated.
Confirming the incident to the media, Sylvester Ekidor, the Lomelo village administrator, pointed out that no resident was harmed during the attack.
However, he condemned the KDF for not coming to their aid during the Sunday incident.
He added that the bandits had staged a fifth successful attack on the village despite stern warnings from President William Ruto’s government.
“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.
Security in the North Rift continues to be a nightmare 13 days after President Ruto ordered the KDF to join police in bandit-prone areas to restore peace.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.