Three police officers who were shot dead by suspected armed bandits in Turkana County on Saturday were also stripped naked and their uniforms were stolen.
A police officer who survived the attack said the bandits also took off with guns and ammunition during the 8 am incident.
The officers were part of a multi-agency security team who were heading to a scene where the cattle rustlers had on Friday attacked a vehicle ferrying passengers to Turkana.
The scene is approximately five kilometres from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) camp along the Lodwar-Kitale highway.
“While at the scene, armed bandits started firing at them indiscriminately from the bushes from the scene, and the officers managed to recover the bodies of three officers who were missing and had succumbed to their injuries,” the survivor said in a police report titled OB 05/11/02/2023 at 10:15 AM.
The report showed Edwin Chepkwony (GSU Turkwel), Emmanuel Kipngeich (GSU Turkwel), and Police Constable (PC) Shadrack Lwambi of Lokichar police station were killed.
“PC Brian Bett of GSU Nakuamoru is yet to be traced. They were stripped naked and their arms and uniforms were stolen,” the officer added.
Three Land Cruiser vehicles; GKB 739T (Katilu police station), GK B 147T (ASTU Kainuk), and GKB 599T (GSU Nakuamoru), which the officers were using were deflated and left at the scene.
“One of the vehicles has been set ablaze and others vandalised. Due to dangers at the scene, the vandalism was not quantified. The officers have retreated to ASTU Kainuk together with the bodies to restrategize. There is an urgent need for air support,” a signal sent out by the police added.
“From the scene, the officers managed to recover the bodies of three officers who were missing and had succumbed to their injuries.”
The bandits also seriously injured at least seven others, including an Officer Commanding Police Division and GSU and Rapid Deployment Unit commanders.
Ironically, the attack came days after Cabinet Secretary for Interior Kithure Kindiki had concluded his tour of the North Rift region with a warning to bandits that they have no place to hide in Kenya.
