Two suspects arrested, Ethiopian being sought over Turkana killings

Sinage to the main entrance of Kibish Police Station in Turkana. [Courtesy Interior Ministry]

Police in Turkana have arrested two suspects over the killing of three boda boda riders in Kibish area.

The three boda boda riders were reportedly shot dead and their motorcycles and an unknown amount of money stolen on Sunday night at the Kenya-Ethiopia border.

Their bodies were found dumped in the bush on Monday.

Sub-county police commander Charles Wafula said preliminary invistatigations had established three suspects including an Ethiopian national were involved in the fatal shooting.

Wafula said by Tuesday, the police had arrested two Kenyan suspects, but the Ethiopian suspect was still at large.

The police boss reported that the slain riders wereon their way from Liwan Kokiro area towards Kibish when they were ambushed and shot dead.

He said along the route, the riders were stopped by two unknown men who had asked to be dropped in Kibish.

According to Wafula, the passengers stopped and together with other assailants started opening fire on the riders at Natodoneri kilometres away from Kibish.

"We have two of the three suspects in our custody. They are being questioned in Kibish and will be arraigned in court to answer to charges of murder. One of the suspects who is still at large is an Ethiopian national from the Nyangatom community. We have escalated the search and we hope to arrest and charge him in Kenya," Wafula said.

There were reports on Monday that the slain boda boda men had crossed the border to Ethiopia and were on their way back to Kenya.

Wafula said police investigators visited the scene of crime and confirmed that the three bodies had several bullet wounds, mostly on the chests.

The bodies of the deceased were brought to Lodwar Referral and Teaching Hospital's mortuary and were positively identified by the Turkana boda boda chairman Ramsey Losike.

The murder saw a group of boda boda riders stage a demonstration in Lodwar town blocking the Kawalathe bridge as they protested the killings.

Losike asked riders to be cautious with passengers they ferry especially at night to avoid cases where strangers turn against them in remote areas.

He asked them to share details of suspicious passengers with the association for easy tracing and rescue.