No security threat in Limuru, police assure scared residents

Daily Nation

Security forces spent Saturday night patrolling villages in Limuru and Lari sub-counties.

This followed information from members of the public that people wielding machetes and guns had been seen alighting from lorries and hiding in a forest.

Scared residents also left their homes and camped in primary schools and Administration Police (AP) camps for the night following the reports.

The affected areas were Ngubi forest, Gitithia, Escarpment, Lare, Ngarariga, Bibirioni and Ndiuri in Ndeiya.

Area police boss Moses Owiti confirmed the incident, and said they received information about a probable attack on citizens.

This prompted security forces to immediately swing into action to contain the situation.

“We received conflicting reports that people were seen alighting from three lorries and entering Ngubi forest. Some reports said the people were wielding guns and others said they had pangas,” said Mr Owiti.

“We immediately left our posts and went out on night patrol until morning to secure and search the area. I can confidently confirm that there is no security threat. It was just a rumour that went round the villages,” he added.

OCPD Owiti added that even before daybreak, he had convinced those who had left their homes to go back since there was no cause for alarm. He, however, reassured them that the police would keep watch over the area even more vigilantly.

Meanwhile, Limuru MP John Kiragu on Sunday morning also visited homes in the area to reassure them of their security, and find out the truth behind the alarming report.

“I have driven along the Mai Mahiu road, from Limuru to Mai Mahiu and I can confidently say that there is no security threat and people are actually going to church as expected,” said Mr Kiragu.’

The MP also confirmed that they were in constant communication with the security forces.

He added that police had patrolled the forest and villages in the upper and lower Naivasha road and there was nothing tangible to show that there was any threat to security in the area. He said investigations were on-going to determine what led to the rumour.

Mr Kiragu and OCPD Owiti said that the incident showed that the public were on high alert since if the threat was real, the attackers would not have gone very far following the quick response by villagers and security forces.

“The quick response by villagers demonstrates that if the security threat was real, it would have been thwarted. Nyumba Kumi means sharing information between the community, police and leaders and this is what happened last night,” said the MP.

It was later, however, said that a lorry carrying cattle and goats broke down along the Mai Mahiu road near Ngubi forest. Another lorry came to the scene and also stopped to offer help in repairing the first lorry.

After the repairs were done, some of the men entered the forest to relieve themselves before embarking on their journey.

This is believed to be the source of the rumour that led security forces to conduct an all-night operation in the area.

The incident came weeks after several attacks in Mpeketoni, Lamu County that left over 60 people dead.