Police in Trans Nzoia have arrested one person in connection with the storming of a police station by rowdy youths on Wednesday evening.
Armed with machetes, bows and other crude weapons, the youths stormed the Matisi Police Station to protest recent incidents of mob justice and lynchings meted out on suspected criminals in the area.
Eliud Wasike, alias Dunga Ringleader, was arrested at the police station and one machete seized from him.
Another protester, Eliud Situma, told the Nation that they were tired of watching their friends and relatives unjustly lynched.
“We will not sit down and watch our friends and relatives being lynched just because they have stolen something from someone. Some of them have families that depend on them. They should be arrested instead of burning them,” he lamented.
Another protester said: “The police are good at raiding chang’aa dens and arresting people who are enjoying themselves instead of providing security in the area. They only wait for someone to be lynched before they come to remove the body. Surely, where is human rights in this?”
The youths had gathered at Corner Matisi at around 5pm before storming the police station, said Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jecinta Wesonga.
“From our intelligence, these are groups of goons and thugs from within Matisi and Namanjalala who are on a revenge mission and want to take advantage of the situation to threaten members of the public,” she said.
Applauding her officers for their swift action to contain the situation at the police station, she warned the public against taking the law into their own hands and retaliating for perceived wrongs.
She promised increased police patrols in the crime hotspots of Tuwani, Matisi and Namanjalala.
In recent days, a man was lynched in Kongoni village after being pursued from Namanjalala by an irate mob on suspicion of being a livestock thief.
Another man was attacked by a mob in Amuka village on suspicion of stealing chickens. Next to him was a white sack that contained two cockerels, one of which was dead, and three live hens. BY DAILY NATION