Murkomen: Over 20 fishermen still missing after Todonyang ambush

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen in Todonyang in Turkana County/MINA

More than 20 fishermen are missing after Saturday’s ambush by suspected militia from the Ethiopian Dassanech community in the Kenya-Ethiopia border area of Todonyang in Turkana County, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said.

CS Murkomen, who addressed residents when he visited the area on Monday to assess the security situation, directed top security officers to engage their Ethiopian counterparts to establish their whereabouts.

He said an immigration office and a one-stop-border post will be established in the area to help authorities know who enters and leaves the country.

“You have said we need to have an immigration office here like the one we have at Nadapal, Mandera and Busia, I want to assure that we will ensure that this is done to monitor the movements of people from Kenya and Ethiopia”, CS Murkomen said.

An unknown number of villagers were injured in the attack believed to be out of retaliation by the Dassanech gang, police said. Rift Valley Regional Police Commander Jasper Ombati said more personnel had been sent to the ground to ensure the safety of the locals.

“We are waiting for more information on the attack,” he said amid tension in the area.

Turkana North MP Ekwom Nabuin said they had disturbing reports of the killing of more than 20 fishermen in Todonyang area of Lake Turkana by the Dassanech of Ethiopia.

“The numbers could be higher. The situation is extremely bad; rescuers must move fast to secure our people. The massacre is happening on Kenyan soil, which is occupied by well-armed Ethiopian militias (Dassanech),” he said in a post.

The river where the incident happened extends from Ethiopia, where the fishermen had ventured. The tension had been growing in the area in the past few weeks following the sighting of gunmen from Ethiopia.

They were seeking revenge, officials said. A 24-year-old herder was shot and killed in an attack by gunmen on Wednesday evening in Merikuka village in Kokuro Location near Loyoro Fishing Site at the Kenya-Ethiopia border, Turkana County.

The body of Kai Ebu was found with a gunshot wound to the head. Ebu was grazing his calves in a grazing field along the bank of the Loyoro River when he was targeted and killed.