After months of peace and prosperity, Dassanech gunmen attacked the Turkana fishermen at the beach of Todonyang killing Robert Petabong and injuring badly Julius Loudi. The two were the elders of Todonyang Community. They had gone to secure their nets, which they had left overnight.
After battling with the Dassanech gunmen and killing one, the now armed villagers returned to the Todonyang Church Compound where they have been living as displaced people for the last two years, and killed 4 Dassanach in cold blood. Some other Dassanech were rescued while two run back to their villages in Ethiopia.
In recent times the two communities have been living and trading together. We knew that there were many Turkanas in the Dassanech villages as they had gone to buy Sorghum and other goods in the barter trade that has been going on. But news had reached the Dassanach Village of Sies (Lotira) that their own had been killed at the Church compound. This led to some youth to trick the about 20 turkanas who were at the village buying and selling, to escort them to safety only to gun them down about 1 kms from the Todonyang Police Post. We were shocked to see the bodies littering all over the plains. This was a massacre. Only one lady survived with serious gun wounds after hours under sun pretending to be dead! While one Turkana was kept safe in a manyatta of his Dassanech friends while the onslaught took place.
The Catholic Church in the area mobilised forces and went around other villages of Toltale, Gabite, Koro and rounded up 45 Turkanas that were kept safe in these villages by the local elders, bringing them back to Todonyang Mission.
26 people lost their lives senselessly today: 21 Turkanas and 5 Dassanech. Unless both government administrations and security forces get really involved in tackling the situation of the peoples living at our borders, we are yet to see more attacks in the coming weeks.
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