Butcher, driver killed on suspicion of being cattle thieves

Two men were killed in Homa Bay County after they were allegedly mistaken for cattle thieves. 

Bob Ochieng, a butcher and a Probox driver Kevin Odero, were lynched near Kobodo market Kanyamwa Kologi Ward in Ndhiwa.

Ochieng, who runs a butchery at Sikwadhi Trading Centre, had gone to buy a cow from a farmer in Kanyamwa Kologi Ward.

He hired Odero to ferry the cow which had a broken leg in his Probox.

However, on their way back to North Kabuoch, the vehicle got stuck in the mud following heavy rains.

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Trouble started when some residents spotted them struggling to get the vehicle back on the road and suspected that they had stolen the cow. The residents mobilised and attacked the two men.

Efforts by Ochieng and Odero to explain to the residents that they had bought the animal fell on deaf ears. The mob lynched the duo and torched the vehicle.

Ndhiwa Sub-county Police Commander John Losia said they had established that the two men were killed in a case of mistaken identity. 

"The information we have is that these two men were carrying a cow that had been released to them by the owner after buying it. But the mob did not listen to them,” Losia said.

He said his officers went to the scene and found that the two men had been killed and their vehicle torched. 

Police have launched investigations into the incident.

Losia warned residents against taking the law into their hands.

“It is wrong for the public to attack people over allegations they have not verified. They ought to have questioned the two men and call the owner of the cow to verify whether they had stolen or not,” he said.

The bodies were removed to Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital Mortuary.