Chaos erupted at the Nyahururu Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church on Saturday, December 20, after two factions clashed following a leadership dispute.
Two rival factions confronted each other inside the church compound, disrupting the worship and drawing the attention of passers-by.
Reports indicate that one group had begun worshipping inside the church when another one began arranging chairs outside the church building, sparking tensions.
According to one of the congregants who was part of the people who were worshipping inside the church, the tensions had been orchestrated by a former pastor who was transferred against his will.
"What has brought all this chaos you are seeing here is that violence is being pushed by a former pastor who was here previously but was later transferred," said the congregant.
"He was transferred for some unknown reasons. He has hired goons so that they can come and close our church," she added.
Moments into the incident, police officers from Nyahururu Police Station were immediately alerted and swiftly moved in to prevent the violence from escalating further.
According to one of the church officials, the pastor had been transferred by the church board to another church, but a section of the members protested his transfer.
The official revealed that it was not the first time that chaos had erupted at the church premises, noting that it was the fourth time such an incident had been witnessed.
"Those who have been attacking us for the last four Sundays are doing this because they lack a solution. They are doing this despite a court order stopping them from interfering with our worship," said the official.
The rivalling faction, led by the said former pastor, accused the church's board of mismanagement and intentionally creating tension among the believers.
After several minutes of the heated clashes, the police later ordered the warring factions to vacate the church premises as investigations into the incident began.
