Panic gripped Kigumo, Murang'a County after an 84 mm mortar bomb was discovered at a plantation on Sunday, May 8.
In a statement released by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the locals at first mistook the bomb for overgrown arrowroot, oblivious of the lurking danger.
At the same time, other curious locals thought it was a missile, throwing the rather sleepy town into confusion.
"So concerned were the villagers that two children were dispatched to the homestead of a retired military officer 3 kilometers away since calls to his phone went unanswered, to come and ascertain whether it was truly a missile as claimed by a majority," the DCI stated.
The area chief got wind of the incident and alerted detectives based at Ngonda police station in Kigumo, who rushed to the scene.
The detectives called experts from the Forensic Bomb Disposal and Hazardous materials unit, based at the DCI National Forensic Laboratory, who confirmed that the object was an 84mm mortar bomb,"
The DCI noted that the dangerous military object was most likely left behind by the British soldiers during the pre-independence era in the 1960s.
The bomb experts noted that they would detonate the device on Monday, May 9, at a safe location.
The incident comes barely days villagers in Meru County scampered for their safety after they mistook a branded shopping bag for a lion.
So scared were the villagers that they had alerted the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) who swung into action armed with sedative chemicals ready to contain the big cat, only to find a branded paper bag.
