A family in Pap Yamo Village in West Alego Ward, Siaya County is crying for justice after their kin was murdered by suspected hired goons.
Alloys Ochieng Nyapola was attacked at his parents home in the broad daylight of Wednesday July 26, 2023 by two unknown men who assaulted him using a big rod.
He was attacked at 10:30am and succumbed to his injuries around 1:00pm on the same day while undergoing treatment at the Siaya County Referral Hospital.
According to Rosemary Akinyi, mother of the deceased, she was at home when the two attackers accosted his son.
"Alloys was milking a cow outside my house when I heard a strange voice inquire from him whether my son's name was indeed the Alloys that they were looking for. Alloys responded in the affirmative and they started beating him up on the spot," Akinyi recounted.
At that point, Alloys ran and sought refuge in his house (within his parents homestead, otherwise known as Simba).
The poor mother dashed outside to intervene on behalf of his son but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
"One of them turned to me and I received two blows on my hands. They demanded that I give way or else they would kill me," said the distraught mother.
The two unknown men followed Alloys to his house where they also met Millicent Adhiambo, the wife to the deceased. She was not spared.
A blow that was to land on her head was blocked by the door frame.
The second stroke of the big rod landed on her hand, leading to an instant swelling and oozing of blood, Adhiambo recalled.
One of the thugs pushed her aside and followed Alloys to the bedroom.
Not even the cries of the couple's eight-year-old child could pump a humane sense in the head of the beastly attackers, Adhiambo recounted.
The child who was sleeping in the house at the time had just woken up following the commotion.
Akinyi and Adhiambo said that they heard alloys plead with them to cease for he said he was already dying but they did not stop beating him.
Suddenly, the stopped the assault, and delivered a chilling message as they rushed out of the homestead.
"If he ever walks then it will by by the support of a wheelchair. If he survives, we will be back to finish all of you," Akinyi quoted the attackers verbatim.
According to Akinyi, the attackers said that they had been hired by "Dayo" (a grandmother).
Akinyi noted that one of the attackers is not a stranger to her for she had in the earlier days seen him ferry the daughter to one of their grandmothers on a motorbike.
The bereaved family believes that the goons were hired by a member of the extended family over claims that the deceased had stubbornly cut a tree from his grandparent's compound - otherwise known in the Luo parlance as Gunda.
"We rushed back into the house when the attackers left and we found a nearly dead Alloys. My husband had broken bones on both legs, fractured ribcage, lower back. He could not lift himself up," Adhiambo said.
The Star visited the scene of assault and noted that blood stains had socked the mattress where Alloys was reportedly beaten up.
The pieces of the broken plastic jug that Alloys was using to contain the milk prior to his attack were also visible next to the cow shed.
First cousin of the deceased, Sadiq Otieno Nyapola regretted the incident saying that the suspected hired goons did their job in a manner characteristic to people who were well paid.
"They did it perfectly as per the job description of their employer. The way this criminality was executed tells of goons who were well paid. You can't do what these people did if you don't have money," said Otieno.
Otieno faulted the people who plotted the murder for failing to engage the family members to discuss and resolve their differences.
"We are more than 100 boys in the extended family that could sit down and resolve the conflict. Well, I hear them say Alloys was very stubborn but no law permits anyone to attack and kill another in his house," Otieno said.
The postmortem report, Otieno reported, revealed the cause of death as a raptured lungs. Adhiambo, the deceased widow, called on the criminal justice system to ensure that justice prevails.
"I have been left with an eight-months-old baby and we live in fear for the thugs said that they would come back. I am requesting the government to follow up this case and ensure that justice is done, " she said.
Without Alloys, the homestead will now be left in the hands of two widows, that is: Akinyi (Alloy's mother) and Adhiambo.
Alego Usonga Sub County Police Commander Benedict Mwangangi acknowledged that the case had been reported on July 26, 2023 and that police are investigating the matter.
"We are pursuing leads to narrow down the suspects," Mwangangi said.