A murder suspect has been forced to come out of hiding in a forest for four and a half months.
Arafat Adalla presented himself to police officers in Lamu County on Wednesday, August 12, accompanied by an official from the Muslim for Human Rights (MUHURI) NGO.
He explained that he had endured hardships such as snakes, hunger, rain and dangerous insects which forced him to contact his family.
After negotiations with the police, his family convinced him to surrender for due process to be followed.
He was handcuffed and taken into custody upon arrival at the police station.
The suspect had been accused of being part of a gang which ambushed and killed Corporal Roders Odhiambo Otieno attached to Tchundwa Police Post in June 2020.
The unarmed officer was waylaid as he walked through the village alone and unarmed.
Lamu County has been notorious for murders of police officers, with authorities warning residents against turning against their protectors.
Just 9 months before the incident, another officer, Hesbon Okemwa Anunda, attached to the same police post, was killed.
Anunda’s mutilated body was found dumped in a thicket on the Mbwajumwali-Kizingitini Road on October 5, 2019.
He was carrying a G3 rifle loaded with 60 rounds of ammunition. The assailants also took the rifle and the ammunition.
