14 die in Kenya demonstrations
2008-04-14 19:37
Nairobi - At least 14 people were killed on Monday in Kenya when police clashed with members of a banned sect who went on the rampage after the murder of their jailed leader?s wife.
Police said five people were killed in Nairobi, five in the Rift Valley and four in central Kenya regions, where members of the outlawed Mungiki sect were blocking roads and stoning motorists.
Nine of those killed were Mungiki members shot dead by police, while the three others were reportedly civilians caught up in the violence. Two others were lynched by members of the public, police officials said.
The demonstrations were not linked to political violence that rocked the east African nation earlier this year, police said.
"A crackdown has been mounted all over the country against this criminal gang and legal action will be taken against all those who destroyed other people's property," national police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe told a press conference.
"We have responded with full force and our officers are in all the affected parts of the country. They are clearing the roads and dispersing members of these gangs."
"We want to send a clear message to them that no one will be spared in this operation. They will regret what they are doing ... We assure the public that peace will be restored and all these hooligans brought to book."
Cars burnt
Police said more than 30 vehicles were burnt in the capital as police battled the youth mainly in Nairobi slums, where the riots started early Monday, a commander told AFP.
The key road to western Kenya was blocked at the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru, Naivasha and Eldoret. More violence was reported in the central Kenyan towns of Thika and Muranga, police said.
The Mungiki sect was once a religious group of dreadlocked youths who embraced traditional rituals, but the authorities say it has evolved into a ruthless criminal gang involved in extortion and murder.
The Mungiki members were protesting the killing of Virginia Nyakio, the wife of imprisoned sect leader Maina Njenga. Nyakio's mutilated body was recovered on Friday - three days after she was seized by unknown kidnappers.
The sect blamed police for Nyakio's killing, alongside those of three other people.
"Let it be known that police were not involved at all in the killing of Virginia Nyakio and the driver. Evidence has so far indicated that the two were killed as a result of disagreements within the gang," Kiraithe added.
He added that police were probing allegations that the woman was gang-raped before she was slain.