Three wounded in suspected pineapple theft attempt

Three people among them a middle-aged woman and two youngsters are nursing gunshot wounds at Thika Level Five Hospital following skirmishes at Makenji village  in Murang’a County that erupted after police confronted locals in a pineapple theft fiasco.

 Police are said to have descended on Makenji villagers after they invaded Makenji police station seeking answers to the critical shooting of three youths suspected to have stolen pineapple fruits from food processing company Del Monte. The irate residents are also said to have broken down Makenji dispensary windows eliciting fury among uniformed officers who confronted them.

 Among the victims of the fracas is Felistas Wairimu, a 38-year-old woman who was shot at the back of her neck when she was allegedly undertaking her home chores.

 Speaking on her hospital bed, Wairimu narrated that she was in the business of preparing breakfast after waking up when she was hit from behind and fell.

 Initially, Wairimu thought she was dreaming or she had been hit by a stone only to later realize that an alleged stray bullet lost focus to find her at the balcony of where she lives.

 “I gave birth five weeks ago and I woke up a bit late today. As I was planning to prepare breakfast, I decided to open the door to my balcony when I got hit by something I could not initially ascertain. Luckily, the gunshot hit me at the back of my neck and did not harm critical tissues,” Wairimu told journalists.

 Wairimu said that she was caught up in the running battles between the irate youths and the police. Police were shooting in the air and hurling teargas canisters to disperse furious villagers. She rebuked the police for firing live bullets saying that she’s lucky to be alive.

 Others nursing grave wounds are John Ng’ang’a, a 16-year-old who was shot on the gluteal and another unidentified middle-aged man who was shot on his arm.

 According to Daniel Kamau who is Ng’ang’a’s father, he was at his work when he heard screams and wails by youths coming from the Delmonte Farm.

 “Little did he know that my son had been shot. My son works in farms in the village and had left home for work as usual when the incident happened. After I got the information, I went to rescue him when I found him lying helplessly,” said Kamau.