Banditry: Interior CS Matiang’i declares parts of Laikipia volatile areas

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i. [Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has declared parts of Laikipia County as disturbed areas due to increased banditry attacks and insecurity.

Matiang’i, through the National Security Council (NSC), noted that bandits continue to terrorise residents of the affected areas, despite an ongoing security operation in the county.

“Bandits lurking within the environs of the Laikipia Nature Conservancy and surrounding areas continue to wage armed attacks and other criminal activities on innocent Kenyans,” the CS said in a statement Friday.

The affected areas include the area around the Laikipia Nature Conservancy and its environs, now declared a security operation zone.

Matiang’i has also ordered that the airspace around the Laikipia Nature Conservancy and the surrounding area be closed for 30 days.

“No aircraft or any airborne transportation equipment will be allowed into the airspace around Laikipia Nature Conservancy and surrounding environs,” he said.

The NSC however noted that a security operation that had been in place since last year was successful and normalcy restored in several parts of Laikipia.

In January 2021, the Interior Ministry had launched a security operation in Laikipia, Baringo and Turkana counties in January following the killing of police officers in Kapedo.