MARTI: CHERAB MCA ARRESTED AS STANDOFF BETWEEN CAMEL OWNERS AND THE COPS ESCALATE!

Mohamed Jirmo- Cherab MCA

Reports reaching ICBN suggests that the police in Marti sub county have earlier this evening apprehended the Cherab MCA Mohamed Jirmo following his attempt to intervene in an incident where the security forces took it upon themselves to 'confiscate' the camels belonging to the locals in their hundreds claiming that the stock was stolen from the Somali community living in the nearby Lagdera constituency.
The bulk of the herd belongs to a well-known educator, realtor and businessman in Marti known as Adan Wako but a few other herders have had their confiscated too.
The locals say they do not understand what made the police to take such rash decisions as the camels belong to them. They say the police are relying on an unfounded stereotype that locals do not own camels but the truth of the matter is that camel ownership has been on the rise in the past few years because of the unforgiving climate change which has made cattle and shoats unable to thrive in the region as desertification slowly but surely encroaches in the region with rainfall ever falling short of expectations and also with erratic fashion.

Camels that were confiscated in Marti. 

Camels have been deemed rather more resilient compared to the other two which has led many exchange their cattle and shoats for camels to preempt any eventual loss. The owners of the confiscated livestock say the actions of the cops have far reaching consequences for them as some of them were meant to be on sale to 'offset school fees for their children and medical bills which will now have to wait until the security forces decide their fate.'

Our source tells us that the MCA was tasked by the residents to represent them and seek clarification from the security authorities on what transpired that led the security agencies to round up people's private property apparently for distribution 'to their rightful owners'.

Our source informs us that the MCA was arrested and cuffed the moment he set foot in the office before uttering a word to the shock of the throngs of people who have been camping at the station since yesterday when the unfortunate incident happened.

The actions of the police apparently led to chaos as people started agitating for the unconditional release of the MCA who was there with 'their(people's) mandate' which led the police to start firing at the crowd leading to a stampede at the station with many getting bruised in the process amid other minor injuries.

Some of the livestock which allegedly fell to the police slugs after they started firing indiscriminately

The police have since released the MCA but tension is still high as the owners if the confiscated livestock have maintained they will not leave the station until their property is released and inconditionally for that matter. The victims of the police action have lamented the possibility of 'powerful Somali leaders' of being behind their misery and wondered why no leader in Isiolo county is yet to support them against the atrocities being committed against them by the security structures adding that this is not the first time the police have illegally targeted in a rogue operation and wondered if the same laws are applied elsewhere in the country. They are alluding to an incident of similar nature which happened a couple of years back in which the security forces launched an operation targeting Charri and Cherab where they rounded up and arrested 'parents,guardians and/or spouses of suspected cattle rustlers' which is seemingly a crime by association popular with authoritarian regimes such as North Korea where if a person is convicted of serious crimes such as treason, his/her entire family face similar consequences. Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader executed his uncle and later executed his uncle's entire family in a classical case of 'guilt by association' which not only shocked but infuriated people across the world.

Merti Police Station where the confiscated animals are held hostage by security forces.

They have also decried 'glaring double standards from the security forces' whom they say haven't been 'as enthusiastic in recovering the Charri/Cherab herders stock whose livestock was driven away in their tens of thousands just a couple of years ago none of which have been recovered to date and no effort seen from the local security apparatus throwing hundreds of families that depended on the livestock into abject poverty yet when livestock is lost elsewhere,they are always 'made to pay the price with their own property'.

Isiolo North MP Hassan Odha condemned the incident via his official Facebook page and asked for the immediate release of the livestock being held in the police compound to their rightful owners but is yet to make a visit to the area.

ICBN shall let you know of any further development(s) as pertains this particular story!

#KeepItICBN