Pastor lynched at midnight on accusations of livestock theft

A minister of a local church in Dalisu Village in Soy, Likuyani Sub-county, Kakamega County, has been murdered by an irate mob after being accused of being a livetock thief.

Dalisu Village elder Ibrahim Mayo said Protus Shichoro, who serves at Muriola African Brotherhood, was seized on Thursday at midnight by residents and attacked after he failed to explain what he was up to there at such a time yet he was not a resident.

The village elder said the man, who was using a motorbike, also had a machete, pliers and a rope in one of his gumboots.

Mayo told West FM that he received a call from a villager saying that there was a man who had been attacked by residents.

“I contacted my colleague, Mr. Mukhongo, and rushed to the scene where we found him lying on the ground unconscious.”

Mayo and his counterpart, Stephen Mukhongo of Lumino Village, tried to save the man’s life but failed to get a means to rush him to the hospital that night.

“We decided to go and report at Nangili police station in the neighboring Kongoni Location after Likuyani OCS failed to pick up our calls. While still at the station, we received information that he had passed on,” Mukhongo said.

The two administrators agreed that the area has experienced a series of livestock thefts in the recent past, which could be a reason why the pastor was murdered.

Statement from wife

The pastor’s wife, Hellen Kiyombe, said her husband isn’t a thug and she believes he was mistakenly killed.

She added that her husband works as a milk vendor apart from being a boda boda.

She further said he was going to see his first wife after he had spent the day normally.

Soy Sub-location assistant chief Bonivanture Lugado confirmed the incident and said the man suffered deep machete cuts and other visible injuries. He has warned residents of taking the law into their own hands.

The body of the man is lying in Kitale mortuary awaiting post mortem as investigations commence.