Ouma Wanzala

1 September 2010

Nairobi — A trail of death and destruction has once again been visited on Nyabondo village in Nyakach District.

One person was killed and several people injured as armed raiders broke doors demanding money and valuables.

Mr Oonje Bodo was flushed out of his house by five youths and hacked to death before the gang attacked his wife, maiming her.

They then moved to neighbouring homes where they broke doors and cut people with pangas before vanishing into the darkness.

Hit man on the head

The Monday night attack came hot on the heels of the killing of a retired police officer and an elderly woman in unclear circumstances in the same area.

Local police boss Patrick Mbarire said the suspects beat up Mr Bodo, insisting that he must give them the money.

"The screaming couple attracted neighbours and on learning that their mission was about to fail, the gang hit the man on the head with a blunt object and he died on the spot," said Mr Mbarire.

The assertion by Mr Mbarire that there could be a motive other than cattle raids has evoked fear among the residents.

The police chief accused the public of not volunteering information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects.

"We are asking members of the public who have information about the suspects to volunteer it, as we believe they were youths from the village," he said.

A survey by Nation recently indicated that most people had decided to sell livestock and other valuables as they made them targets of the gangsters.