Residents in Kilibwoni, Nandi County, are demanding justice and the transfer of local police officers after a dramatic raid to arrest a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer culminated in chaos, tear gas and the shooting of a 52-year-old civilian.
The incident, which unfolded on Friday, began when a combined team of officers from Kilibwoni and Kapsabet police stations, led by Kilibwoni OCS Chief Inspector Peter Nangiro, stormed a local entertainment joint to apprehend Emmanuel Kipkirui.
Kipkirui, a KDF soldier, was wanted for allegedly assaulting Kilibwoni Deputy OCS Inspector Paul Ongulu earlier.
According to police at Kapsabet Police Station, the arrest quickly turned volatile when the suspect resisted, inciting patrons who plunged the bar into darkness and pelted the officers with stones and bottles.
As the riotous crowd attempted to rescue the soldier, cornered officers fired live ammunition into the air and deployed tear gas to disperse the mob, forcing neighbouring traders to hurriedly shut down their businesses.
During the fierce multi-agency melee, Julius Malel, a 52-year-old resident, was shot in the right thigh and the back of his right hand.
While local residents, including Eunice Chemelil and Wilson Tuwei, strongly condemned the police for using excessive force and turning the market into a battlefield, the police service maintained that the crowd’s violent retaliation left several officers injured and a police vehicle heavily damaged.
The unrest did not stop at the shopping centre. The angry mob subsequently marched to the rental home of Inspector Ongulu, breaking in to destroy his household property, smash windows and steal electronics, before barricading the Kilibwoni-Lessos road with lit bonfires well into the night.
Locals have expressed deep frustration over what they describe as systemic harassment, claiming that certain officers have made it a habit to intimidate entertainment spot operators.
The community is now directly petitioning Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to order the immediate transfer of the entire Kilibwoni police station cohort and ensure the officer who shot Malel is criminally charged.
The suspect is expected to be arraigned on Monday, while Julius Malel remains hospitalised in stable condition after being transferred from Kapsabet County Referral Hospital to a specialised medical facility in neighbouring Eldoret for advanced treatment.
