Death toll rises to 5 in Tana River clan clashes

One more body of a middle aged man  was on Thursday night found in el niqa in Bangale area od Tan River county, a day after four people were killed.

The decomposing body was found with arrow wounds a clear indication that he died through the poisoned arrows.

This brings the number of those killed to five in the last three days.

The whole incident was triggered by a defilement incident involving a 16-year-old girl from the Degodia community earlier in the week in el niqa which degenerated  into clan conflicts involving two communities.

The arrest of two people from the Orma community on Wednesday morning who were suspected to have been involved in a defilement incident caused members from their community to waylay unsuspecting members from the Victims clan at a water point where they had taken their livestock.

The attackers who were said to be in large numbers reigned on their victims with poisoned arrows killing four at the spot while others escaped with injuries.

According to Mohamed Rashid, the victim was among those who were waylaid by the attackers.

“He was among those who had taken their animals to a watering point. He was hit by the poisoned arrow. His body was found a few meters from where his colleagues were killed a clear indication that he was overwhelmed. Its an extremely unfortunate incident,” said Rashid.

Tana River county commissioner David Koskey who led the security team in touring the troubled area in a bid to restore calm in the area said that the security apparatus will work round the clock to hunt down those who were involved in the incident.

“I want to assure the community members in this areas that as a government will work make sure that those who were involved in this heinous act are arrested and face the full force of the law. That is my assurance,” he said.

He added: “In the meantime I am ordering the chiefs and their assistants with the help of elders in the affected areas to embark on a series of peace meetings until you are satisfied that normalcy has returned. My warning to chiefs is that I will not come back here to carry more bodies, If such a thing happens again then county yourself jobless,”.

Yakyb Komora an elder from the Orma community  in the area said that they will cooperate with the security apparatus in the investigations even as they continue preaching for peace.

“We are two communities that have peacefully co-existed for decades .It is unfortunate that this incident happened and on behalf of my community members I want to offer my condolences to the bereaved families. Going forward let us continue doing things together including our animals grazing together,” said Komora

Speaking on Thursday afternoon after the burial ceremony after condoling with the family of the victims, the leaders who include former Bura MP Nuh Nassir, Former Wajir East MP Rashid Kassim and his former Wajir West counterpart Ahmed Kolosh challenged the security apparatus to expedite the matter and bring the perpetrators to book.

“This is very sad and should not have happened in the first place. Life is sacred, especially a life of a 5 year old boy,” Kassim said.

“These are neighbor communities who have a right to live in their lands. We do not have another Tana River county for living or herding our livestock and so these communities must live in peace and if there are issues, the government should come in,” added Kassim.

Ends…