How officers rescued girl from prison warder

After 24 hours of anxiety, the prison Warder who travelled more than 200 kilometres while armed with a G3 rifle to allegedly kill his girlfriend was tricked, captured and disarmed without a single shot being fired.

Prisons Constable Edwin Omuse of Kangeta GK Prison had planned to kill his girlfriend Linet Murunga, a student at the Mount Kenya University (MKU) Thika main campus, who he claimed had defrauded him of Sh900,000.

Immediately an operation was launched by an elite unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to hunt him down and disarm him before he could execute his deadly mission.

The last eyewitnesses who the officer in Meru said he was spotted on a fast moving motorbike.

“Efforts to trace the warder gone rogue in Meru became fruitless, after he disappeared from the prison, where he had been assigned sentry duties,” police said.

According to Police regulations, firearms should be used when less extreme measures are inadequate to protect life or defend oneself against an impending threat of life.

By any standards, the use of firearm could have been justified in the Thika case, however, the standoff ended without a single bullet fired.

Detectives from the elite Special Services Unit (SSU) of DCI sought to prevent bloodshed and likely death.

At the end of the operation, the warder was arrested and the firearm recovered.

On Wednesday, detectives traced the woman and moved her to safety and laid an ambush for the officer at Kisii Estate in Thika town after getting information from a member of public.

“At around 5pm, he arrived and using a spare key he gained entry into the house.

He then assembled the firearm and made a call to the girlfriend, a student pursuing Environmental health course at the MKU,” the DCI said.

He reportedly called the student inquiring on her whereabouts.

According to the detectives, the suspect was in continuous communication with the woman.

After identifying the house through an informer , they laid an ambush and knocked the door.

The officer, believing the woman had arrived, opened the door but left his firearm concealed under the seat.

The officers confronted him and ordered him to surrender before demanding for the firearm. He simply said:“Iko hapo chini ya kiti (it is under that seat).”

Money was borrowed

He was interrogated and he confirmed that he had carried the firearm all the way from Igembe, Meru county to come and kill the woman before committing suicide.

“He was apprehended and search conducted where a G3 riffle serial number 77098145 with 20 rounds of 7.62 mm all wrapped in a sack recovered,” the DCI said.

On Tuesday at around 7am, Constable Omuse picked his official firearm, a G3 rifle loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition.

He dismantled it and concealed it in a sack and later confided to some people that he was headed to Thika to kill his wife who he claimed had defrauded her of Sh900,000. Omuse further claimed he had borrowed the money from the bank.

The DCI said the officer will be charged with preparation to commit a felony (of murder) and risks a jail term of not less than seven years if convicted.

Following the incident, the DCI yesterday warned the female youth particularly those in the Universities, Colleges and other tertiary institutions to be wary of predators whose bond of love is premised on monetary cords that are meant to temporarily win their affection.