Angry Nyamira residents sets Itibo Patrol Base after 19-year-old student shot dead
Anti-riot police were dispatched to disperse the growing crowd, during which a 19-year-old man was shot in the stomach
Angry residents of Bonyunyu village of Nyamira County stormed and set on fire the Itibo patrol base after a 19-year-old college student was shot dead during a confrontation with the Police officers on Monday.
Reports indicate that the angry mob looted the patrol base before setting it ablaze, with the officers’ houses being vandalised too in the wave of destruction.
Authorities have confirmed that no firearms were stolen and that all weapons in the station’s armory remained intact.
The chaos began earlier in the day when a group of students held a protest outside the office of a local Member of the County Assembly.
Although the reasons for the demonstration were not immediately clear, the situation escalated as more residents joined in.
Anti-riot police were dispatched to disperse the growing crowd, during which a 19-year-old student was shot in the stomach.
The shooting enraged villagers, sparking a violent march to the Itibo Patrol Base.
The crowd reportedly overwhelmed the officers at the station, set the facility on fire, and damaged the nearby police residences.
Additional officers were later sent in to contain the unrest.
Confirming the incident, Nyamira South Sub-County Commander Elizabeth Wakuloba said investigations are underway into both the shooting and the destruction of the station.
“We are treating this matter with urgency and seriousness,” she confirmed.
The injured man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
This comes a few days after angry residents in Homa Bay County set ablaze Mawego Police Station, where late teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang was briefly held before being transported to the Nairobi Central police Station, where he was pronounced dead.
Tension built up after the angry mourners stormed the police station and started setting some of its infrastructure on fire.
Viral videos on social media show protesters carrying the uprooted signage of the police station while protesting Ojwang’s killing.
After the confrontation at the station, Ojwang’s body was taken to his parents’ home in Kokwayo Village, Kabondo Kasipul.
