Two brothers butchered in Nyandarua night lynching

When Joseph Mathenge went home after work on Wednesday evening last week, Ramana village in Mirangine subcounty, Nyandarua was calm as usual.

The residents, most of whom are farmers, were going about their  business.

Nothing prepared Mathenge and his family for the catastrophe to come. He had no idea that in a few moments he would lose two brothers, family members would be nursing injuries and property would be destroyed.

Shortly after 10pm when Mathenge and his family had retired, there was banging on their mabati iron sheet house.

A gang of youths said they were Nyumba Kumi members and demanded to be allowed in.

The group smashed the windows and cut holes in the all. They tried to pull the family out.

Others were breaking down the door.

Mathenge's wife gathered the courage to open the door before it was broken.

The youths said nothing, they picked nothing.

One gang member hit Mathenge's head with a blunt object and injured his ear. Then they left for the houses of his brothers a few metres away.

Mathenge said while his house was being attacked, his family screamed for help but no one came The house is just a hundred metres from the Mirangine deputy county commissioners offices which are guarded by armed police.

Mirangine police station is about 500 metres from their home.

“I called Mirangine police station for help but a senior officer told me they would only come to pick dead bodies," Mathenge said. "I called my brothers saying we were under attack.

"Unfortunately, the gang met my brother, Peter Maina, at the gate as he was coming to our rescue. They killed him and took away his motorcycle,” Mathenge told the Star.

Maina, 32, was beaten with blunt objects, cut with pangas and his head crushed with a stone. The gang then attempted to burn the house by setting seats alight.

The gang then moved to the home of Mathenge’s other brother, William Kunyiha, whom they attacked with pangas and left for dead.

He was rushed to J.M. Kariuki Memorial Hospital in critical condition and transferred to Provincial General Hospital, Nakuru, where he was admitted inthe ICU. He died of his injuries on Saturday morning.

A four-year-old child was suffered head wounds. He was treated at the hospital and released.

Mathenge’s brother-in-law, Peter Kimotho, said when he got the call informing him of the attack, he went to Mirangine police station. He was told officers already had been sent to the scene.

Kimotho said he found the officers near his in-laws' home and they told him  to "go look for a vehicle to take my people to hospital."

He said he pleaded with the officers to rescue the victims from the lynch mob but claimed they were reluctant.

Kimotho went for his cousin's car but when he got back he found Maina had already been killed. The body was taken by police to J.M. Kariuki Memorial Hospital Mortuary.

Kunyiha was in critical condition and the family rushed him to hospital together with the injured child.

The family members said they only learned the next morning why they had been attacked. They said they were accused of harbouring criminals, which they denied.

The said the two brothers were innocent.

A resident told the Star that on the night of the attacks, two men had broken into a house of an old woman where they stole some plastic chairs.

One was arrested by residents but the other escaped to allegedly hide at the  rother’s home. The residents went after him and the brothers moved to protect him, causing the attack.

The dead brothers were said to be accomplices of the two robbers and were said to deal in bhang and drugs.

The family has condemned the killings and denied the brothers were criminals. They said they were not found with any stolen items and the culprit allegedly being pursued to their home was not there.

The security officers in Mirangine subcounty are give different accounts.

Mirangine deputy county commissioner Joseph Ng’eny told journalists that residents had suspected the two brothers of theft, house break-ins and livestock theft.

Ng’eny condemned the killings, saying it is wrong for residents to take the law into their own hands.

“By bad luck, they were attacked and killed. Life is precious and even if someone is in the wrong, they need to be arrested and prosecuted, not killed,” he said.

Ng’eny said investigations will be carried out and those culpable will be brought to book.

Mirangine subcounty police commander John Matsili on Saturday told the Star the two brothers were killed for teaming up with the escaped criminals. He said they had broken into the house of the elderly woman, Monica Wambui, and stolen plastic chairs and a decoder.

He said when the two thieves were pursued to Maina’s house, Maina and Kunyiha teamed up with them and threatened residents with pangas.

The residents called for reinforcements and took advantage of the theft to attack the brothers, he said.

The alleged thieves were not found in the victims’ home. Matsili said their names are not known and they could not be identified since it was dark.

The police boss told the Star the dead brothers dealt in bhang, especially in Ndudori and Bahati areas in Nakuru county. They also break into houses but victims are afraid to report the crimes as they are threatened with dire consequences.

“The residents have always remained silent but when the news about that theft spread, they took it as an excuse to kill,” he said on the phone.

Matsili denied the existence of a vigilante group at Mirangine, saying the attack was carried out by residents who were fed up. He denied the attackers had police blessings and police were reluctant to rescue the victims.

“How can they say the police did not assist yet we rushed to the scene and even rushed one of the victims to hospital?” he asked.

The family said police only collected the body.

Nyumba Kumi chairman Samuel Kanyi denied involvement. He said he only called police after getting the news and handed over one robber, arrested by residents, to police.

The police boss said no one was arrested.

Kanyi appeared to confirm Mathenge’s family allegations that the police kept their distance.

"Even when they were being attacked, I was with police officers at Kabazi Road petrol station. We were only hearing people scream but you could not tell where,” he said

The petrol station is abut 200 metres from the victims' homes.

The family is calling on the government to ensure the brothers get justice.

(Edited by V. Graham)