A prison warder caused panic when he entered a kiosk in Mandera brandishing a Ceska pistol, claiming one of the customers had conned him.
Jockatan Jillo, the officer in-charge of Mandera GK Prison, confirmed the incident saying the warder had been assigned to guard his residence only for him to cause panic away from his post.An eyewitness, Godfrey Ndegwa, said he and others were standing outside the kiosk when the warder came from behind and an argument ensued. He mistook one of the customers for a man he claimed owed him some money.
“We were shocked after he pulled the pistol on us claiming my friend owed him money yet we don’t even know him. He forced us to lie down and any other person passing here joined us on the ground only for him to run into the prison compound before police arrived,” said Mr Ndegwa.
Mr Jillo said the warder was at his residence but it was not clear how he ended up threatening people at a kiosk.
“He is an officer here but he was not in uniform while on duty at my residence. I don’t know how he ended up at the kiosk far away from his post but if investigations find him culpable then disciplinary action will be taken against him,” said Mr Jillo.
He said the incident has prompted him to direct that all officers on duty be in uniform to avoid such incidents.
According to another eyewitness, the warder appeared intoxicated and he was to collect Kenya Revenue Authority forms from a nearby cyber café, only to end up causing chaos at the kiosk.
The warder has not been arrested but a police source said investigations have been launched.
Source: Nation Daily
