A 12-year-old pupil was killed by suspected bandits in Cheptet village, West Pokot, on Friday morning.
The bandits, believed to be from Kaben in Marakwet East, ambushed and killed Ruto Ng’orianya at 6 a.m. while he was on his way to a short call near Cheputel Boys High School.
This comes just hours after bandits gunned down a grade 6 pupil in West Pokot County’s Chesegon area on Thursday evening.
Tensions remained high along the border between West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet.
West Pokot county commissioner Apollo Okello confirmed the incident, saying the bandits appear to be on a retaliatory attack following a raid in Baringo County last week.
He added that the bandits have decided to exact revenge on the West Pokot county side as tensions remain high in the area.
“Yesterday there was a similar attack in the same village where a Pokot boy namely Regan Kaywa 15 years was also killed,” he said.
He noted that the bandits may be revenging last week’s incident by bandits from Baringo Tiaty who had killed a man from their community.
“Anti-stock theft police officers have launched a manhunt for the bandits who dashed in the thickest after the attack,” he said.
A local Melmoh Omidoh told the Nation that the boy was killed when his parents were in the house by criminals who had hidden in the bush in their home.
“We have got the ammunition that killed him as a G3 that belongs to the Government,” he said.
Local leaders have called on the government to stamp out the bandits menace once and for all.
