mau mau

01-08-1982 Scenario

Miracle escape from gun hunters

Story by OSCAR KING’ORI and MUCHIRI GITONGA
Publication Date: 10/19/2007
For Adan Mohammed, September 21 began as a typical day in the life of a herdsboy in northern Kenya.


Mr Adan Mohammed at Isiolo District Hospital. Photo/ OSCAR KING’ORI
But unknown to the 18-year-old boy from Korbesa location of Isiolo District, the events of that day would leave indelible marks in his soul and on his body.

He reckons that he had literally been to hell and back as several people tried to force a confession of stealing an MG16 gun for three days.

That he is still alive and in the safe hands of caring nurses and doctors at Isiolo District Hospital, is a mystery to him.

“I can’t believe that I am still alive after undergoing the ordeal at the hands of my tormentors,” says Adan, his face contorting from pain.

Riddled with ugly scars

He stares at the white ceiling blankly, apparently pondering what the future holds for him after the incident that left his body riddled with ugly scars.

A question that keeps replaying on his mind is why fellow human beings could be so cruel.

Typically, he had anticipated this particular day to be tedious like any other he had since he was employed by an Isiolo chief three months earlier.

“I was in the field looking after the goats near Ngare Ndare Village all the morning, but things changed in the afternoon when a man approached me at around noon and informed me that my employer wanted to see me urgently,” says Adan.

His employer was supposed to be waiting for him at Manyatta Mlango and he left the animals under the care of a trusted person and embarked on the 14-kilometre journey.

He did not suspect anything sinister since the emissary was his employer’s relative. “On arrival, I found five men who immediately detained me in a room,” he recalls with tears welling in his eyes.

In a no-nonsense tone, the gang leader fired the first question: “Where did you sell the M16 for Sh5,000? You were seen carrying the gun out of the manyatta yesterday... don’t deny!”

His denial incensed his captors. One of them, a son of the chief interrogator, descended on him, hitting him mercilessly on the head with a thick stick. Another one kicked him in the stomach.

He collapsed on the ground groaning in pain.

As the beating continued, consciousness slowly oozed out of him and by the time he came to, it was already at night. His captors had carried him to a dry riverbed, eight kilometres away. On realising that he was conscious, they once again beat him with metal bars and gun butts until he slipped into a coma, once more.

When he regained consciousness, one man argued that he could easily die before revealing where he had sold the firearm.

Adan heard them confer in hushed tones and agree that burning his hands would do the trick.

By then, he was powerless as they lifted him over the fire like a reed. Bizarrely, one of them forced his left hand into the fire. His screams from the ensuing pain could not shake a muscle of his tormentors.

“Nobody could come to my rescue as the nearest manyatta was far away and it was long past midnight,” says the boy.

With no confession coming from the boy and the whole skin of his forehand having been scalded, the gang put two swords in the fire ready to scald him further.

“When they were red hot, they stripped me and held the pangas on my thighs,” he said.

For the third time, he passed out. When he regained consciousness he discovered that they had tied him to a tree and numerous insects were feasting on his fresh wounds.

Blood was oozing

Many hours had passed without a single soul passing near the area. His throat was burning with thirst while every inch of his body ached. Blood was oozing from his left hand, thighs and buttocks, attracting all sorts of insects which inflicted sharp pain on him.

Help came on September 23, at around 6pm in the form of a wandering Turkana man. He was walking along the dry riverbed when he noticed him tied to a tree. Using a knife, he cut the ropes thus setting him free.

Just as he had appeared, he vanished in thin air — perhaps for fear of reprisals from Adan’s captors.

The boy says he crawled like a snake for more than eight hours to access the nearest manyatta.

Villagers called the police and the chief and he was swiftly taken to the hospital where he was put in the intensive care unit.

Dr Joseph Kiluva of Isiolo District Hospital says the boy sustained 10 per cent burns, of which more than 90 per cent were on his left hand. He had sustained deep tissue injuries on the chest, ribs and thighs, he added.

According to the medic, it was difficult at first to treat the wounds since they were more than two days old and already infected.

“The boy has, however, continued to improve after we cleaned the wounds,” he said.

Although his condition is stable, it would take a long time for the wounds to heal, the doctor said.

Last week, the boy’s clan members were making arrangements to transfer him to Chaaria Mission Hospital in Meru Central District for specialised treatment.

The hospital, according to his uncle, Mr Ahmed Yusuf, has modern equipment that would help him heal faster.

Adan says that he has never been to school due to the poverty back at his home in Korbesa, Merti Division, some 300 kilometres from Isiolo Town.

Survived the torture

He is the second born in a family of seven siblings. His family relies on relief food supplies from the Government.

Adan says he had come looking for work in Isiolo and landed one as herdsboy for a salary of Sh1,300 a month. With the money, he hoped to help offset some of his parent’s financial problems.

The free primary school education programme had, however, seen his younger brothers and sisters back to school.

Councillor Hassan Golicha of Korbesa ward, who has been visiting the boy in hospital, says it was a miracle that he had survived the torture.

“The way he was beaten and burnt showed that his tormentors have no regard for human rights. No human being in his right mind would subject a fellow human being to such form of torture,” said the civic leader.

Isiolo police chief Crispin Makhanu says four suspects were in police custody in connection with the incident. Others were being pursued.

Mr Makhanu said the gun in question was not issued by the police. “Police do not issue M16 rifles to the public or to police reservists,” he said.

UMA UMA especially them holding the ammo