An armed group of youths stormed a police station on Wednesday night, March 16, to protest against laxity by police and increased cases of crime in Trans Nzoia.
The rowdy group of youths stormed the Matisi Police Station to protest recent incidents of mob justice and lynchings involving suspected criminals in the area.
Police had to handle the charged young men who were armed with machetes, accusing the cops of laxity when it come to fighting for basic human rights in the county.
They also accused police of not doing enough to stop lynchings in the county and questioned why the law enforcement authorities were not keen on taming what has become a worrying trend in the area. Instead, they claimed that police officers are obsessed with raiding illicit brew dens.
"We will not sit down and watch our friends and relatives being lynched just because they have stolen something from someone.
"Some of them have families that depend on them. They should be arrested instead of burning them," one of their spokespeople told journalists.
"The police are good at raiding chang'aa dens and arresting people who are enjoying themselves instead of providing security in the area. They only wait for someone to be lynched before they come to remove the body. Surely, where are human rights in this?" they charged.
The scuffle emerged after a man was lynched in Kongoni after he was pursued by an irate mob on suspicion of being a livestock thief.
Another man was attacked by a mob in Trans Nzoia on suspicion of stealing chickens.
Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jecinta Wesonga stated that the group was made up of criminals and their leader had been arrested during the scuffle and he will be arraigned.
"From our intelligence, these are groups of goons and thugs from within Matisi and Namanjalala who are on a revenge mission and want to take advantage of the situation to threaten members of the public," she stated.
The Trans Nzoia County Police Commander also vowed to intensify police patrols in the crime hot spots in the region amid complaints of rising cases of insecurity.
