Leaders and elders from Garissa have strongly condemned the killing of a man in Adheile in Raya location, Balambala subcounty.
Mohamed Abdi Hassan, 45, a father of eight was shot dead by unknown gunmen as he was walked through his farm.
Speaking to the press at the at the burial, Hamud Sheikh an elder from the community, regretted it was the second incident in two months and yet nobody had been arrested.
“It is unfortunate that two months ago we lost two people in the hands of the same militia which, before killing, asks which clan one comes from. When you identify yourself they either kill or spare you, depending on which clan you come from,” he said.
Hamud said despite the names of those suspected to be involved being revealed to the security officers, nothing has been done to arrest them.
“When they killed our people we sat down with the community where the killers hail from and they accepted to compensate Sh1 million per person. But even before they pay the agreed amount they are at it again. Surely, if this is not provoking us what is it?” he said.
Mohamed Daud urged the security apparatus to handle the matter with the urgency it deserves, noting that failure would aggravate an already bad situation.
“We are peace loving people and we don't want to take the law into our hands. That is why we don’t want to retaliate. Let the government bring the killers to book,” he said.
Garissa peace committee secretary Hassan Osman condemned the incident and called on the two communities of Abdwak and Aulihan to peacefully co-exist.
“We are yet to know the motive of the killer and we feel the police and the CID must bring the killers to book. We would not wish to see a further escalation of ethnic hostilities,” he said.
Speaking on phone, Garissa subcounty CIO boss Michael Njeru said police had recorded statements from four people and appealed to anyone with information that will be relevant to the investigators to provide it.
