Editor's Review

The KDF officers allegedly confronted the police officer for delaying their trip. 

A local town has been gripped by tension following a bitter confrontation between police officers and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers.  

According to a police report filed at Lodwar Police Station, KDF soldiers stormed the station to rescue their colleagues who were apprehended for disarming a police officer who was manning a roadblock in the area.

The KDF officers were allegedly heading back to the barracks while driving a water bowser when they met the said officer who had erected a roadblock.

Upon reaching the roadblock, the KDF officers allegedly confronted the police officer for delaying their trip. They ordered him to go on his knees but the police officer refused.

File image of a police vehicle at a past crime scene. PHOTO | COURTESY

The KDF officers then disarmed him and fired in the air before proceeding with their journey. According to the police report, the disarmed officer was instructed to collect the firearm at the army barracks.

However, news of the incident prompted other police officers to rush to Moi Gardens where they also fired shots that caused tension in Lodwar town, before arresting the four KDF men.

“Upon arrival, three KDF soldiers were seated in a shade and the driver was inside the water bowser. When they were ordered to surrender, the driver cocked his AK47 assault rifle…This prompted officers to shoot in the air and the driver surrendered by alighting from the said water bowser…he left his rifle inside,” a police report read in part.

10 more KDF soldiers joined their colleagues further escalating the situation. Police had arrested four KDF officers including the one that disarmed the law enforcement officer manning the roadblock.

The four KDF soldiers, who had refused to provide their identities were booked as unknown.

According to the police report, the four will reportedly be charged with robbery with violence.