Nairobi, Kenya - FIVE suspected Mungiki adherents were yesterday morning hacked to death by irate members of public in Kandara division of Maragua District.
A similar number is said to have escaped with various injuries but not after they had rescued two of their colleagues from the irate members of the public.
Police in the area said the slain gang was in a group of over 10 youth who were armed with crude weapons and had attempted to take control of several matatu termini within Kabati and Kagundu-ini markets.
According to area Officer Commanding Kabati Police Station Nelson Shilunji Daliti, the gang is suspected to have come from Nairobi’s Githurai Estate with the intention of extorting money and creating mayhem in the area termini.
“Our preliminary findings indicate that the gang might have come from Nairobi,” the OCS said.
Meanwhile, police in Nakuru have arrested nine suspects and recovered an assortment of crude weapons believed to have been used in skirmishes within Rongai Division.
Divisional police boss Titus Yoma said the suspects are being held at Solai Police Station and would be arraigned in court once police complete their investigations.
Shilunji informed the Kenya Times that the gang arrived in the area at around 6am and immediately started demanding Sh1,000 from any vehicle plying the busy Kabati /Kandara Road via Kagundu-ini in the area. The drivers and conductors who failed to comply, police added, were harassed and beaten up.
The OCS further said that the gang critically injured a six-year-old girl who was travelling with her parents in one of the matatus. She was rushed to the nearest Thika District Hospital.
Bodies of the slain gang members which lay at several scenes were taken by police officers to Thika District Hospital mortuary.
According to the police, members of the public alerted the police about the gang. Police rushed to the scene but found members of the public had already lynched five of them.
“We swiftly responded but on arrival we found members of the public had already lynched five of the suspected gang members,” Shilunji said.
Five other sect members were said to have escaped mob justice although other reports indicated that two members of the gang were saved from the mob by a group of people suspected to be their colleagues.
Area OCPD Stanley Lamai and Central Province deputy police chief Sammy Maritim also visited the area following the killings.
Addressing the Press, the OCPD warned followers of the sect that their days were numbered and advised them to either surrender or face the full force of the law.