A member of the National Police Reserve was on Monday shot dead in an attack by suspected bandits in the Doldol area, Laikipia County.
The incident at the Seeki NPR camp also left four other officers with serious bullet wounds, police said.
The gunmen targeted the camp late on Monday, July 28, opening fire in the Mukogodo area.
The motive of the attack
was not immediately known.
The NPRs who were present fought
back, causing a two-hour standoff as they called for reinforcement.
Police from Doldol police
station arrived hours later to rescue the NPR. The attackers escaped the scene.
It was then discovered
that James Kaiyok Kwale had been fatally wounded.
The other four were
rescued and rushed to the hospital in serious condition, police said.
Police suspect other accomplices were staging an attack elsewhere or driving away with stolen animals.
The body was moved to the
mortuary pending other procedures.
The area is among those
under an operation aimed at addressing banditry.
The bandits have rendered
much of the north rift and neighbouring counties inhabitable as they attack for
animals, which are at times sold in urban areas for meat.
There is an ongoing
operation in Samburu, Laikipia, Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo,
Isiolo, Marsabit and parts of Meru to address the menace.
The attacks have affected
development projects in the areas amid the ongoing operations.
Police say they have
mounted more operations to address the menace.
The government has
acquired more equipment to enhance the operations amid resistance from the
gangs behind the incidents. Statistics show the attacks have reduced compared to the past ones.
Besides retributive reaction, strategic investment and sustainable development have also taken a prominent place among the government’s planned crime control interventions for Kenya’s Northern frontier and the Kerio Valley belt.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the long-term vision is to empower the communities to actively take part in the war against animal rustling and undertake legitimate nation-building activities.
He said he plans to distribute subsidised agricultural inputs and extension services to area residents in a bid to revive farming activities as a source of livelihood.
“We are coming to dismantle not only the criminals themselves but also to bring down the entire chain that has been the cattle and livestock rustling industry,” he said on the menace.
