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Baragoi under curfew in hunt for bandits

Friday, April 16th, 2021 00:00 | By
Natembeya
Former Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya.

The government has imposed a 30-day dusk to dawn curfew in Baragoi town and its environs to enable a joint security operation to mop up illegal guns and flush out bandits.

 Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya  announced the decision after holding a two-hour security meeting when he visited the troubled Samburu North town on Tuesday afternoon.

 Tough talking Natembeya noted that Samburu North had become a bandit haven between the rival Samburu and Turkana communities, who conduct perpetual retaliatory attacks leaving behind a trail of death and destruction.

 He further noted that proliferation of guns has made peace efforts elusive, because of mistrust between the two communities.

Many lives

 “The grace period of one year that we had given you to return illegal firearms is over. Now it is the government’s turn to make things right, because we know that almost every household owns a gun,” Natembeya said.

 He, however, told local leaders who had asked for the reinstatement of armed Kenya Police Reservists to help fight off armed bandits that the government will no longer employ KPRs since they are easily corrupted.

 Ezekiel Lolmodooni, 70, said  they are have often lived in fear of attacks, saying the decision to impose the curfew and security operation is welcome.

“We have lost many lives with the latest being a 12-year-old boy who was shot by bandits on Sunday. I am sure there was a retaliatory attack being planned. Let the government remove all these firearms from Baragoi,” he said.

 Kenya Defense Forces, Anti Stock Theft Unit, General Service Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit, National Government Administrative Officers, Directorate of Criminal Investigation (and the National Intelligence Service  will conduct the joint security operation. – KNA

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