On Monday evening, a group of nine Nigerians in Thika town, Kiambu County, were nearly lynched by an angry mob after locals accused them of witchcraft. The foreigners were found performing what residents in the Kangokii area of Makongeni believed to be rituals, and the mob attacked them while shouting to attract more people’s attention. Fortunately, police officers on patrol rescued them and took them to Ama Hospital before transferring them to Thika Level Five Hospital for further treatment in stable but serious conditions. The Nigerians denied the accusations, stating that they were praying and not performing rituals.
Sadly, such incidents of mob justice have become prevalent in Kenya, and their frequency has been increasing. In Murang’a County last week, two elderly women were lynched on accusations of being witches. At around 10:30 pm in Kahuro’s Kiamikoe village, about 100 male attackers armed with crude weapons raided the victims’ homes, forced them out, and led them to a road, where they were attacked. The police were caught unawares by the incident, which occurred about 200 meters apart.
The villagers in Kahuro’s Kiamikoe village have called for enhanced security measures in the area, as they have suffered under the Mungiki sect for over 20 years. Mob lynching is a criminal offense in Kenya, but cases continue to be reported almost weekly, with some victims being innocent. Consequently, many lives have been lost, and the trend suggests that whenever the crime rate increases, so does the incidence of mob justice. It is vital to curb this culture of violence by educating the public and increasing police presence and action.
