Nyatike residents plead with government to halt ongoing police operation

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Nyatike residents are now pleading with the government to intervene and halt the ongoing police operations in Macalder that left the town deserted.

Police operations in the area were launched on Saturday after a rowdy crowd attacked Macalder Police Station on March 13, burnt down a police vehicle, six houses, and vandalized the station.

This happened as residents held protests over insecurity in the area that has left scores injured, property stolen, and lives lost.

During the incident, seven police officers, including Migori County Commander Edward Ibwaga, sustained serious injuries.

Families were forced to flee their homes and run to safer places as business premises remained closed.

“We are living in fear. The business community is also affected. Nothing is going on in Macalder,” Bernard Othina said.

The residents who pleaded with the government to allow them to integrate back into society said that education in the area has also been disrupted, with school-going children and teachers fleeing the village.

According to the residents, they would help weed out bad characters.

“We are urging the county security team to allow us to integrate back into society and help them weed out the bad character,” Othina stated.

They claimed that individuals who perpetrated the attacks at Macalder Police station and the office of the Deputy County Commissioner were outsiders and not residents of that area.

Benta Achieng said that widows who rely on small businesses at Macalder could no longer fend for their families because of the ongoing operation.

“We have been badly affected because we cannot conduct any activities in the market. We have nothing to feed our children, who are also not going to school because of the operation,” Achieng lamented.

Sylvester Genga, a small-scale artisanal miner, said that their gold mining equipment has been left in a dilapidated state, with no one allowed to access the gold mining sites in Macalder/Kanyarwanda area.

“We have gold mining equipment that is unguarded and being spoiled by the rains,” Genga said.

Migori County Commissioner Kisilu Mutua, while speaking to the Standard on the phone, said the DCC in Nyatike has mobilized chiefs so that people can go back to their homes and children to go back to school.

He said the ongoing operation was targeting criminals, hence people should not fear.

“If you have done nothing wrong, there is no reason to flee. Police are only targeting criminals. We have advised chiefs and told them to tell people not to fear and go back to their homes and children to go back to school,” Mr. Mutua said.

By Sunday evening, 39 people had been arrested and were presented to court on Monday this week.

The 39 are still in police custody after investigators were granted seven days by a Migori Court to conclude their investigations.

They are expected to take a plea after the lapse of seven days.