Religious leaders and residents in Kisumu County are demanding action from the police over a run of violent robberies, days after a primary school teacher was killed by attackers near the busy Ahero interchange in Nyando Sub-County.

Justus Abongo Agai, a teacher at Kagimba Primary School who also ran two M-Pesa shops at the interchange, was attacked at about 9.30pm on Saturday, October 24, as he rode a motorcycle home, according to the Kenya News Agency.

Police said the attackers blocked his way and hit him on the head with a blunt object before escaping with his bag, which held his personal belongings and an unknown amount of cash. His body was found in a pool of blood on a murram road about a kilometre from the Ahero-Katito road and was taken to the Ahero County Hospital mortuary for a postmortem. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has opened investigations. No arrests have been announced in connection with the killing.

Clergy want answers

Clergy from Nyando, led by Rev. Father Dickson Odhiambo of the Legio Maria African Church Mission, have asked the authorities to find those responsible, The Standard reported on Thursday.

"Kenyans must be told who brutally killed Mwalimu Justus Agai," Fr Odhiambo said.

Residents' lobby targets senior officers

The Kisumu Residents Voice Association, led by its chairman Audi Ogada, wants senior police officers in the region transferred, accusing them of laxity as crime rises.

According to the Kenya News Agency, similar violent robberies and targeted attacks have been reported in parts of Muhoroni, Nyando and Kisumu Central sub-counties in recent weeks.

Arrests in separate case

The calls come as police point to arrests in other cases. On Wednesday, detectives in Kisumu arrested two men after a chase that ended when the vehicle they were in hit a power pole. Police said they recovered a pistol and three mobile phones and linked the pair to the robbery of a group of women near Kisumu International Airport. The two are in custody at Kisumu Central Police Station pending arraignment and have not been charged.

Police have not publicly responded to the demand for transfers. Anyone with information on the Ahero killing is urged to contact the DCI or the nearest police station.

Photos: The Standard; Kenya News Agency. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.