Police have arrested 19 suspects in connection with a looting incident that occurred on Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Eldoret town.
This is after what the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) said was the looters took advantage of an operation by Uasin Gishu County government officials to weed out unlicensed vendors from the town’s central business district and raided Eldomatt cookery/Bakery, near Saito Centre.
In a statement on their social media pages, the DCI said the looters who were joined by street idlers teamed up with the vendors and overwhelmed the ill-equipped county enforcement askaris, who were beaten to a pulp.
“This prompted the quick intervention by the Uasin Gishu security apparatus, which deployed a standby anti-riot squad that quelled the situation and arrested the suspects,” noted the National Police Service (NPS) criminal investigations agency.
The arrests came after amateur videos that have been doing rounds on sections of the media following the unfortunate incident went viral.
Further, according to the DCI, some of the suspects who were captured leaving the shop with looted merchandise also vandalised a motor vehicle that was parked along the street.
“The suspects are currently in custody at Eldoret police station being processed to answer to their crimes in court tomorrow morning,” the police said on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Kenyans on Twitter have condemned the incident.
Rioters in Eldoret town including street kids broke into Eldomatt supermarket and looting everything including generators and chairs. pic.twitter.com/2B24JAX6zY
— KIPRONO (@Onorpik) November 17, 2022
