A prison warder stationed at Lodwar GK prison was arrested on Friday following an attempted attack on Raila Odinga’s security moments before he arrived at Lodwar Airstrip in Turkana.
In a police report filed under O/B 15/13/10/2023 at Lodwar Police Station, the incident unfolded on Friday morning when police officers, led by Sub County Police Commander Lemmy Njiru, were patrolling the airstrip.
The officers were deployed to receive Raila and his entourage at around 11:00 a.m. and escort him to the Turkana Cultural Festival later.
However, a prison warder in civilian clothing emerged at the airstrip, armed with a G3 rifle. Moments later, he fired once in the air while approaching the security team.
Immediately, SCPC Njiru and the security team rushed towards the prison warder and pinned him to the floor.
The suspect was then disarmed and detained at Lodwar Police Station. It has since been discovered that the prison warder is stationed at Lodwar GK Prison.
Detectives who grilled him at the station were yet to ascertain the motive of the incident.
According to the police report, he will be further interrogated by a multi-agency panel comprising detectives drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers.
The incident happened before Raila Odinga faced stiff opposition in his attempt to address Turkana residents at the Turkana Festival.
His security whisked him away after chaos ensued at the event.
This was after a section of Jubilee leaders criticised the former prime minister for neglecting the Turkana community, leading to a conflict between their supporters and Raila’s loyalists.
Raila has since laid the blame on President William Ruto, whom he accused of inciting Turkanas to chase him away.
