Key suspect in Nyamira teacher's murder still at large, two weeks later
Mr Ezekiel Nkeere Gitangwa, 47, whose mutilated body was found hidden in a Nyamira nurse's house on January 1, 2022
Detectives trailing the nurse linked to the murder of a head teacher in Nyamira County two weeks ago are following fresh leads indicating she was planning to escape to a neighbouring country.
The nurse, who is the main suspect behind the brutal murder of Ezekiel Nkeere Gitangwa, head teacher of Getengereirie Primary School, is reported to be in hiding in one of the towns after managing to shake off detectives who were trailing her.
The mutilated body of the teacher was found dumped in a structure used for poultry rearing and covered with a carpet at the home of the nurse, who was working at the Nyamaiya Health Centre.
His limbs had been chopped off, and his hands and legs were placed next to the body.
Reports indicate that the nurse could be trying to sneak out of the country through Tanzania, with plans to reach Botswana or Zambia.
Police said the nurse had flown to Botswana and worked there for a year before she returned and got a job at the health facility.
Multiple police sources said the nurse has been changing her phone numbers to avoid detection. She is also reported to have made phone calls to people in Nyamira County.
Some of the phone numbers she has used belong to people she knew in the past but had since been registered to different subscribers.
Nyamira County Commissioner Michael Lesimam said, “I am certain we will arrest this nurse. On Saturday, she came up to the hospital and put on her phone. We rushed there; I had not even dressed properly. But her phone was immediately switched off and she vanished from our radar.”
Mr Lesimam, who attended the burial of the slain teacher in North Mugirango on Friday, said as the hunt for the missing nurse intensifies, residents should be ready to give information to authorities to help in her arrest.
He asked the suspect to surrender, saying she is safer in the hands of police officers.
Leaders from Nyamira County are demanding that the suspect be arrested and charged with reports indicating that there could be some police officers who are tipping the nurse to evade arrest.
Kisii University Vice Chancellor Prof John Akama, former Kitutu Masaba MP Walter Nyambati, MPs Joash Nyamoko (North Mugirango), Samuel Arama (Nakuru Town West), Steve Mogaka (West Mugirango) and Patrick Osero (Borabu) blamed security officers for dragging their feet in their investigations.
The nurse is reported to have perfected her scheme to evade arrest even after her photos were widely circulated in social media to help identify her.
“We are informed that there are four police officers who are relatives of the nurse and we suspect they are aiding her to hide. Police get signals and it appears they are feeding her with real time information,” said Mr Osero.
Mr Nyamoko, Mr Mogaka, Mr Arama and Prof Akama said the nurse will only be safe in the hands of security officers and asked her to surrender.
“People are saying it is her relatives hiding her; let them all be arrested for being accomplices in the murder and be locked up in the police cells over the weekend until they reveal where the missing nurse is,” said Prof Akama.
Mr Mogaka said leaders from Nyamira will soon have a meeting with Interior CS Prof Kithure Kindiki where they will raise their concerns on unresolved murder cases in the region.
“We cannot have Nyamira turning into a murder field,” said Mr Mogaka.
He added that relatives of two people already in police custody over links to the teacher’s murder have been calling him, pushing for their release.
The West Mugirango MP said, “We will not relent, we will not hear their cries. Let the law takes its course. A killer is not even fit to stay with other human beings.”
The two suspects, a man and a woman, were arraigned before the High Court in Nyamira as police sought to have them detained for 14 days, pending investigations.
The suspects are from Nyamaiya centre, where the nurse was residing.
The woman is an M-Pesa operator and the other is a young man whose phone was used to withdraw money that was sent from the deceased’s phone.
Police are also investigating claims that the deceased teacher had been given close to Sh3 million by the nurse.
Meanwhile, security officials are also investigating the murder of two other people from Gusii region, including that of a male nurse based whose dismembered headless body was tossed from a speeding car at Konate junction in Nyamira County on September 13, 2021. The body parts were in a white gunny bag.
The body was identified as that of Mr Thomas Oyaro, a US-based nurse from South Mugirango in Kisii County.
