Nyeri County is making headlines for all the wrong reasons again. And this time it is the cold blood murder of a chief.
Kamakwa location chief Peter Kimiti Nyuguto was gunned down by unknown gunmen on Thursday evening amid rising insecurity in the region.
The family has now revealed that the slain chief had received death threats several times. Mr. Nyuguto was shot dead by unknown assailants in a maize plantation near his home after returning from work.
His widow Ann Muthoni said Nyuguto was dedicated towards eliminating criminals in the area and had received death threats several times but he had vowed to continue with his duties without fear.
Muthoni said that the deceased had told her on several occasions that he was fearing for his life due to the nature of work he was doing of maintaining security in the area.
According to his son Simon Wahome, the father had just returned home from work and parked his motorcycle in the compound and proceeded to his coffee plantation to check on casuals who were grafting coffee.
Upon reaching the coffee plantation, he spotted two armed men and shouted to the casuals in Kikuyu to run to avoid being shot.
“Tuurie mikora ino irenda gutuuraga,” (let’s run these thugs wants to kill us) those were the final words he said before he was shot.
His son says that his father noticed the killers and he was shot a few meters towards his home.
His brother in-law John Wachira Ndung’u said that the slain chief was a pillar in the family and he was a strong foundation in the locality of ensuring Kamakwa location was secure by apprehending criminals.
The family is now calling upon the security organs in the country to ensure the people behind the killing are brought to book.
The area residents and police officers who sought anonymity said he had previously escaped death narrowly.
“This is not the first time for the deceased to receive death threats from criminals. He has escaped death threats several times and there was time he was being taken home in an ambulance to evade attack,” one noted.
They said that the slain chief had vowed to flush out criminals in the area during a security meeting in Nyeri on Thursday noting that he had a clue on their hideouts.
Gitathi-ini villagers are now worried that cases of insecurity in their area will increase after the cold blood murder of their chief who stood his ground in fight against illicit brews and insecurity.
Speaking on phone to Capital a local media house, Nyeri Administration Police Commandant Lawrence Owino said investigations have commenced and they are following credible leads to establish people behind the killings.
On April 7, 2016, Gakawa sub location assistant chief Martin Githinji Mureithi was shot dead by unknown assailant at his home with villagers saying it was due to his staunch stand on fight against illicit brews.
Cases of chiefs and their assistants dying in the line of duty have been on the rise in recent times. Last week, a report revealed that Paul Karugu, a chief in Nyandarua county had been murdered and his body thrown in Nyandarua river.
Kipipiri police boss Charles Rotich said a postmortem on Paul Karugu revealed that he sustained injuries in the head and chest.