- According to police, five suspects were found in a four-wheel drive car near the site and on being searched they were found the firearm.
- The team also recovered a generator, a driller, two crawl bars, four mobile phones and some natural stones.
Image: HANDOUT
Five suspected illegal miners were Tuesday arrested at a gold mining site in Merti, Isiolo county.
The team on special operations raided the Merti Gotu area where they recovered an AK47 rifle with five bullets.
The raid was staged following complaints the miners were armed and attacking each other.
According to police, five men were found in a four-wheel drive car near the site and on being searched they were found the firearm.
The team also recovered a generator, a driller, two crawl bars, four mobile phones and some natural stones.
This came days after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kiture Kindiki visited the area and ordered the closure of gold mining sites in the area.
He also gazetted the areas as dangerous after seven people were killed in clashes over the control of the mining sites.
Four other people are admitted in hospital with injuries following skirmishes between gangs over the control of the sites.
Kindiki flew to Dabel Artisinal Mining Sites within the Golbo Division and announced measures to arrest the escalation of violence and other criminal activities in the area.
The area has been rife with armed criminals facilitating trade in narcotic drugs, while seven people including two aliens were killed this week in gang rivalries among the illegal artisinal miners on site.
Cases of rape, defilement and gender-based violence have been booked, Kindiki said.
Kindiki said a special team from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has taken over investigations to identify and apprehend the offenders.
He also said effective 6:30 pm Thursday, March 14 2024, the Dabel Artisinal Mining Sites had been declared dangerous and disturbed and vacation orders were issued for 30 days.
This meant the site had been closed.
“Pursuant to Section 8(1) of the Public Order Act, Cap 56 of the Laws of Kenya, and Section 106(1) of the National Police Service Act, no person may be found present in the areas specified in the Gazette Notice at any time without the written authority of the County Police Commander, Marsabit County,” he said.
As such, he added, the gazetted areas remain under the domination of national security agencies and no access to, or activity of any nature whatsoever is permitted in the said areas during the pendency of the orders herein.
The orders shall remain in force at all times but they may be terminated, withdrawn, varied, continued or otherwise altered as the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration may direct, he said.
The affected areas included Hillo Gorgora, Hillo Orofa, Hillo Walkite, Hillo Tanzania, Hillo Irress Abamartille, Hillo Gootu, Hillo Tessum Qalicha and Hillo Karray.
Others are Hillo Hudda, Hillo Qoranjido, Hillo Irress Shindia, Hillo Rabaalee and Hillo Godde Haroressa. Kindiki was accompanied by Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Noor Gabow.
The area is among many sites that have attracted a huge number of youths who are scavenging for the mineral for a living.
This has caused tension among groups seeking to control the sites with no help from the local authorities.
Officials say the sites have deposits that produce gold worth millions of shillings annually.
Some of the miners are killed when the walls of the sites collapse.
This came as questions emerged why the activities, that have created jobs for thousands of young people, remained unregulated with miners working until late in the night which put their lives at risk.
The government had ordered an immediate ban on unlicensed mining activities in the area.