Land dispute leaves disabled Narok man locked up in house for 5 years

Police in Narok on Saturday evening stormed a home and rescued a 68-year-old man reportedly detained there for the last five years.

There was drama at Oloroito village, Narok North Sub-county, as police broke the padlocks of the house in which Emmanuel Turere had been living in deplorable conditions since surviving an accident that left him confined to a wheelchair.

Sub-county Police Commander Fredrick Shiundu led police to the home that had been locked from outside yet the man was inside.

It allegedly belongs to his brother Patrick Saningo, who, together with other relatives, detained the man and left.

“The small shanty is what the man used as a toilet, a feeding area, a place to sleep and everything else. He is visibly emaciated. Judging by the conditions he was living in, it’s as if he was left to die,” Mr Shiundu said at the Narok County Referral Hospital, to which Mr Turere was taken.

Mr Saningo and his son Gideon Olonana were arrested, taken to Narok Police Station and later released on a police bond of Sh50, 000 ahead of arraignment next week.

The OCPD said the two had been denying Mr Turere’s daughter permission to visit and take care of him.

Land dispute

Mr Turere said he has been under the care of his brother since he was involved in an accident in Narok Town in 2014.

He said on his hospital bed that his perils started when he said his only daughter, Virginia Silole, should take his land against the wishes of his brothers.

“My brothers have been preventing my daughter from seeing me due to my wish for her to be the sole beneficiary of my 21-acre parcel of land. I have been living as a prisoner. I thank the police for rescuing me and enabling me to see my daughter,” he said.

Ms Silole said her father hails from a family of 10 brothers and that each of them was entitled to a 21-acre piece of their late father’s expansive land.

“The land measured 217 acres and each of them was to get 21 acres and the additional seven plots. The brother who detained him was eyeing the land. That is why he was blocking me from seeing him or even helping him,” she said at the hospital.

Ms Silole said she eventually resorted to calling the law enforcers as she wanted to ensure justice for herself and her father.

Nominated MP David ole Sankok visited Mr Turere at the hospital and called on police to take action against those who mistreated him.

“Such an act is inhumane, Locking up a person living with a disability in a house is cold-hearted. They must be punished,” said Mr Sankok.

He offered to donate a wheelchair and seek pro bono legal services for Mr Turere through the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.