Turkana residents on Friday broke into an oil storage site during protests over insecurity in the area.
They forced their way into the Ngamia 8 oil storage site where trucks are loaded with fuel before heading to Mombasa as part of the Early Oil Pilot Scheme (EOPS) recently launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Decrying the insecurity at the border of Turkana and Baringo counties, the residents initially tried to cripple operations at the site by camping at the gate and blocking the entrance with thorny tree branches.
They demanded to see a monument unveiled by the President during the project's launch and grew agitated when the security guards declined to let them in.
Taking matters into their own hands, a section of the protesters scaled the wall while others used hacksaws to cut the padlock.
[caption caption="Protesters in Turkana on 29/06/2018"]
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On Wednesday, the residents stopped five trucks from ferrying crude oil to Mombasa and vowed that no trucks would be allowed to pass until the security situation was addressed.
Backed by local MPs, the residents lamented the irony of the trucks transporting oil under high security from the area while they were the victims of bandit attacks in their homes on several nights.
The residents have called for President Kenyatta to return to Turkana and relaunch the project once proper security arrangements are in place.
"We are here at the monument where President Kenyatta marked the historic moment for Kenya as an oil oproducer to pass a message that we cannot continue being killed by armed civilians in our own country and yet our oil is transported under tight security.
"Turkana has two types of wealth, livestock and oil. There is no way all this can be taken away leaving us with nothing," stated Nakukulas resident Geoffrey Long'olekol.
[caption caption="Oil trucks in Turkana blocked by residents on 28/06/2018"]
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