Armed Men Open Fire on Matatu Full of Passengers

A matatu ferrying passengers from Garissa to Hulugho was on Monday stopped by armed men who wanted to rob them of their belongings.

According to a police report filed under O/B number 32/09/10/2023, the incident unfolded when the group of three men parked a Toyota Probox on the side of Garissa-Hulugho road at Bukuree Dam and signalled the PSV driver, demanding him to stop.

The driver, however, declined to stop and instead drove at a high speed past the armed men. In return, the armed men shot at the vehicle, causing panic among the passengers.

One of the bullets hit the matatu’s rear wheel, forcing the driver to halt the vehicle. 

Fearing for their lives, the passengers disembarked from the vehicle and fled away from the scene. Some passengers made a distress call to officers from Iftin Police Station, who were on patrol at Abudiluge, 12 kilometres from the station.

The detectives rushed to Bukuree dam and found the armed men had fled from the scene, leaving behind the Toyota Probox. At the scene, they recovered a spent cartridge believed to have been shot from an AK 47 rifle.

According to the police report, the cartridge was kept as an exhibit to assist in further investigation while the Probox was taken to Garissa Police Station.

DCI detectives, the OCS Iftin Police station, and his team also dusted the vehicle for fingerprints to identify the armed men positively. They also sought to unravel the motive behind the attack. 

The incident comes in the wake of the escalating number of attacks along the North region, with counties such as Wajir, Mandera and Garissa bearing the brunt of the attacks.

To curb these attacks, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said that the government would work round the clock in the Northern and Coastal regions to restore order.

He added that the State would invest in modern equipment to tackle the criminals who have been terrorising the citizens in the region.