Four people among them a 5 year old boy have been killed in Elnigha area in Bangale sub county, Tana River following inter clan clashes between Orma and Degodia communities.
Credible sources from among the members of the local community indicate that the whole incident was triggered by an arrest of two people on Wednesday morning who were suspected to have been involved in a rape incident.
The rape victim is said to have come from one clan while the perpetrators from the rival clan.
The arrest of the two suspects who were taken to the Bangale police station 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 Abdikadir Mohamed, an eye witness on the incident, the attackers had earlier warned of unspecified action if their people were not released from police custody.
“Some people came to us with pangas and arrows and threatened us that we will not stay here if those who were arrested are not released. We told them that it is the government that is responsible for their arrests and we were not involved in that matter,” Mohamed said.
“We did not know that they would come back armed with crude weapons and kill our people,” he added.
The community members are also blaming the police for failing to take action on time since the threats were reported on time before the killings occurred.
Nassir Abdi, another area resident, alleged that when the threats were reported, the police asked for fuel and took long to respond to the claims and that by the time police arrived at the scene, the victims had already been killed.
However, local leaders are now calling on the members of the public to remain calm and avoid retaliation attacks while the authorities investigate the matter.
Speaking after the burial of the four, 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 the life of a 5 year old boy,” Kassim said.
“These are neighbouring 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,” he added.
