DNK International By Our Correspondent,Kilifi.
A man accused of practising witchcraft narrowly escaped being lynched after an angry mob went on the rampage in Matsangoni, Kilifi North leaving one person dead, six police officers injured and property worth millions of shillings destroyed.
The violence erupted after residents accused Charles Bombo Bilali of causing an unidentified man’s private parts to mysteriously disappear through witchcraft.
Fearing for their lives, Bilali and his wife, Saumu Nasoro, sought refuge inside Galana Petrol Station as an enraged crowd pursued them.
Police officers from Matsangoni Police Station, led by the OCS rushed to the scene and secured the petrol station.
However, the officers came under a barrage of stones from the hostile crowd, which also vandalised the petrol station, forcing police to call for reinforcements.
Additional officers from Kilifi Police Station, Ngerenya Police Station, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Gede Police Station, Kilifi Prisons and the Administration Police Service joined the operation.
Despite initial resistance, security teams eventually dispersed the crowd, restored order and cleared roadblocks that had paralysed traffic after protesters barricaded the road with stones and burning tyres.
During the chaos, the OCS’s private vehicle was completely torched, while several passing motorists were attacked.
Six officers sustained injuries and were treated.
Police arrested eight suspects linked to the violence.
Bilali, the man accused of practising witchcraft, was taken into protective custody and later escorted to Kilifi Police Station.
He told investigators that he lost Sh100,000 during the attack.
The man who claimed his private parts had disappeared, triggering the unrest, was not arrested and remains at large.
Police also confirmed that one casualty later succumbed to injuries at Matsangoni Dispensary.
The body was transferred to Kilifi Level Five Hospital Mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.
Investigations into the deadly incident are being handled by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Kilifi North.
PHOTO/File.
[DNK-International@August 7,2026]
