On November 22, unknown number of thugs raided Booker police post, within Mumias Sugar Factory and slashed the officer on duty before breaking into the armoury where they stole seven G3 guns with over 180 rounds of ammunition.
The sole officer who was critically injured, was discovered unconscious in the morning and rushed to St Mary’s Hospital but later referred to the Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu for specialised treatment.
A team of GSU officers, regular and administration police officers from across the region were deployed to Mumias and dispatched to various villages with instructions to recover the stolen guns.
They spend the better part of the day and night combing around Shitukhumi, Shibale, Lukoye, Shianda and Mayoni estates in search of the stolen weapons.
Business at Shibale, Mumias town, Shianda and Mayoni was shut down as traders feared attacks from the rogue officers who were beating up any member of the public they encountered.
As innocent members of the public were harassed and roughed up, property was destroyed as the officers ransacked houses and business premises searching for the firearms.
Motorists and motorcycle riders on the busy Mumias-Bungoma road were not spared as the security officers also roughed them up in an effort to find the guns.
Majority of the youth fled from their homes for fear of being victimised in the rigorous search.
THE INJURED CRY OUT
Victims of the police brutality during the operation have narrated how they were attacked and assaulted by the security officers.
Hassan Shibwabo from Shibale said his 15-year-old brother, a student at Koyonzo Secondary School, was picked up from their house and mercilessly beaten up before beingtaken to Bookers police post and locked up in the cells.
“They were demanding for money and if you couldn’t give them, they beat you and destroyed your property” said Shibwabo.
Cases of rape, assault and destruction of property were rampant during the two days the operation lasted.
Stanley Ngotiza said his door was kicked in and he was ordered to lie down flat before the officers started beating them.
“They ordered us to surrender the guns we had stolen from the police post. But since we didn’t have any information about the robbery, we were seriously beaten” said Ngotiza.
Jaffer Ouma sustained a broken left hand and was robbed of his phone and Sh5,000.
“They knocked on my door and ordered me to open. When I obliged, they ordered me to put the guns on the table. I didn’t have any guns with me. I have only ever seen them with the police or in movies” said Ouma.
Ouma said the officers attacked him with kicks, blows and rungus as they insisted he produces the firearms.
But the saddest story might be the one of Stanley Wamayi who sustained severe burn injuries when his workshop was allegedly set on fire by the officers during the search.
He died while undergoing treatment at St Mary’s Hospital in Mumias.
Wamayi was a motorcycle mechanic and sold spares at his workshop in Shibale.
His mother Veronica Omayo, said her son relied on his business for upkeep of the family.
“He was the sole breadwinner of our family and police must take full responsibility for their undeserving actions” said Omayo.
“I heard people knocking on the door and asking me to open. But since there was an alert of thugs with guns, I feared it could be the criminals who intended to test the stolen firearms” Wamayi narrated from his hospital bed before he died.
He said after he declined to open the iron door, the officers lit a cigarette and threw it inside his workshop which harboured motorcycles with petrol.
“The combination of the fire and petrol caused a big explosion and a huge fire razed up the workshop as I struggled to get my way out. That is how I was burnt to this level” said Wamayi before he succumbed to complications arising from the burns.
St Mary’s Hospital administrator Michael Mugo said they admitted Wamayi who had sustained over 80 per cent burns.
Shibale Mosque Imam Abbas Abdulaziz, said mosque houses were broken into and residents forced to part with money.
“Those who couldn’t raise good money were beaten up and roughed up haphazardly. I think their mission was not to recover the stolen weapons but to steal from innocent citizens” said Abbas.
Lilian Obare, a 40-year-old widow was beaten and left with a broken left leg. She was treated at Matungu Sub-County Hospital.
“They forced their way into my house at around 3am on Wednesday night. They ordered me to put all the seven guns on the table if I wanted to remain alive” said Obare
She said she told them she didn’t have the guns “and that is when they descended on me beating me mercilessly.
They didn’t care where they were beating. One of them ordered me to remove my clothes and lie down.
I resisted and they held my legs and pinched my thighs with sharp objects. I was left bleeding in the house” she said.
Aggrey Wechuli operates a hotel business at Mayoni shopping center and was attacked at 6am on Wednesday.
“I had just opened my business when the officers entered my hotel and asked me to give them the guns. They broke furniture in the process of ransacking the hotel. Some of them moved to the counter where I keep money and took away Sh40,000. One of them took Sh3,000 from my pocket and they walked away” said Wechuli.
Rose Adhiambo said the officers entered her shop and started searching everywhere within the shop.
“They took away Sh6,000 which was in the drawer of my shop counter” she said.
Joshua Yieyi said he was beaten by three different groups of the security officers.
“The first batch came to my house and ordered me to produce the stolen guns. I told them I didn’t know anything about the guns. They roughed me up and went away. I thought it was over and went back to sleep” said Yieyi.
“Another group came and used the same method to demand the stolen firearms from me. They dragged me to the gate and left me unconscious. While I was still lying at the gate, the third group came and started beating me unsparingly” he said.
He suffered a broken right arm and other serious injuries all over the body.
The victims have asked the government to compensate them over their lost property and injuries suffered.