Murder, fire and chaos grips Kaberamaido

Julius Opuna, who had just been transferred from Ochero to Alwa sub-county, was found lying dead in his newly built house in Oriamo trading centre, Kaberamaido district.

Kaberamaido district deputy Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officer Samuel Olaki said the postmortem report shows that Opuna suffered death by asphyxiation, meaning he had been strangled.  

Olaki said police was doing all it can to ascertain who was behind Opuna’s murder. However, as police looked for clues, the houses of those suspected in the murder of Opuna were reportedly set ablaze in retaliation.

Those who torched the houses of those suspected to have killed Opuna are reportedly Opuna’s relatives.

However, they did not stop at burning down houses. They also went on a looting spree of the properties belonging to the people they thought had a hand in Opuna’s death.

The Kaberamaido Resident District Commissioner, Jimmy Ssegawa Ebil, hurried to Omarai village to stop the mayhem.

“It is not good to revenge on people you are not sure of. If you have clues, liaise with the Police such that the law can take its course,” he said.

The CID officer said their investigations revealed that one of the suspects in Opuna’s death had been renting a house from the deceased, but failed to pay rent for six months.

It is alleged that instead of looking for the rent money, he disappeared leaving Opuna at a loss when he sought to let the house to another tenant.

Investigations also reveal that Opuna decided to break into the house, in the presence of the LC1 chairperson, and thereby free up the property for rent to another tenant.

Opuna also reportedly kept the property of the tenant who was in six months arrears.

However, the tenant in question returned to allegedly complain that money he had left in the house was no longer there when he returned.

It is alleged that, in a fit of pique, he threatened to kill Opuna.

CID Officer Olaki said three suspects had been arrested in connection with the murder and investigations were ongoing.

Augustine Ebusu, the LC1 chairperson of Omarai village, said the retaliatory burning of houses happened while he was at the Police station and some suspects were already in custody.

The suspects the police have arrested are Joseph Eyau, Julius Eyoku and Emmanuel Ekwoku.

They allegedly burnt down eight houses.

The Kaberamaido LC5 chairperson, Victor Rex Ekesu, said it was deeply regrettable that Opuna was murdered.

“If you people did not want Opuna, you would have told us such that we maintain him in some of the places where he served,” he said.