Kenya, Ethiopia security teams to meet amid anxiety on Lake Turkana

Saturday, August 10, 2013 – 00:00 — BY MATHEWS NDANYI –

Lake Turkana

Kenya and Ethiopia will hold a joint security peace meeting to restore calm along the border between the two countries following the killing of four police reservists on Lake Turkana.

Police have also been deployed on the Lake to flush out armed raiders who are still occupying three Islands of Lake Turkana after killings last week.

Turkana North DC Erick Wanyonyi says security teams have been deployed to flush out the Merille militiamen from the Islands which are key fishing areas on the lake.

A series of border security meetings have been planned this weekend and on Tuesday at Todonyang along the border.

Senior police officers led by Director of Operations Phillip Ndolo also visited areas around the lake to asses the security situation.

“Its like the case of Migingo Islands on Lake Victoria because they have camped on the three deltas and displaced our fishermen,”said Wanyonyi who was speaking on phone.

He said the three Islands were breeding areas for fish and they were located within Kenyan territory and far away from the border with Ethiopia but the heavily militiamen were living there illegally

“We will now use force to flush them out of the islands and we have already warned the Ethiopian authorities to have them withdrawn or we will act,”said Wanyonyi.

Wanyonyi said calm had returned to the areas near the Lake and at Todonyang border point after the government deployed more than 150 GSU personnel to help quell tensions in the region.

Four police reservists were abducted on Lake Turkana and shot dead by raiders from Ethiopia last week.

Wanyonyi said marine police are using boats to patrol Lake Turkana where tension is still high following the killings.

 

Lake Turkana Photos

“The government will in the next few days bring in more boats for use by the police and we have also asked to have more officers to help us secure all areas on the lake,”said Wanyonyi.

Wanyonyi said other security officers have been deployed along the border near Todonyang to prevent militia from Ethiopia from crossing into the country.

Ethiopian authorities have promised to arrest those involved in the killings of the reservists, who were attacked while fishing on the lake.

Several families have fled from their homes following the killings. The reservists were fishing on Lake Turkana when they went missing and their bodies were later found at Todonyang near the border.

– See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-131480/kenya-ethiopia-security-teams-meet-amid-anxiety-lake-turkana#sthash.cO8cg8B1.dpuf