There was some unrest in Kiandege and Mahianyu villages in the Laikipia West constituency on Tuesday morning after residents staged protests over the mysterious disappearance of four suspects from police custody.

The protestors accused the four suspects of vandalising a borehole and stealing pumps and solar panels in the area.

Trouble started when the residents realised the suspects were no longer in custody at the Mahianyu police post where they were being held.

The protestors demanded the government take action against the police officers who were involved in the release of the suspects. They also wanted the suspects to be rearrested.

"We are asking the government to take action against those people and we do not want those officers here, we want them to go," a protestor said.

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"How come the citizens did not take the law into their own hands by killing the criminals but handed them to the police only to hear that they have been released from the cell""

Mahianyu chief Francis Nyaga confirmed the allegations that the suspects were not in police custody.


Nyaga expressed the residents’ disappointment in the authorities especially after they helped the police in tracing the four suspects and handing them over to the police.

When the police were asked to clear the air about the matter, they said the suspects had gone outside to fetch some drinking water when they seized the moment and fled.

Nyaga appealed to the protestors to calm down as a probe into the mysterious disappearance of the notorious suspects is still ongoing.

"The government is still in search of all the suspects who escaped. The OCS has come and the plans have been set in motion," Nyaga said.

"I would like to appeal to Mahianyu residents to maintain calm because the government is still continuing with the search for the escaped suspects and they must be arrested and arraigned in court."