A section of residents of West Kasipul in Oyugis, Homa Bay County have branded Kodera, a forest of death.
Kodera Forest came into the national limelight on Wednesday morning after the body of Sharon Otieno, a second year student at the Rongo University in Migori County was found dumped there.
Ms Otieno was abducted alongside Nation Media Group Homa Bay Journalist Barack Oduor on Monday.
Mr Oduor survived the ordeal by jumping out of the abductors speeding car.
In an interview with the Nation, residents who live near the forest are torn between supporting its protection, and pushing for its destruction "because it has become a security threat".
The residents say Kodera Forest has become “a cemetery without graves” because of numerous number of bodies dumped there in the recent past.
“The forest is a safe haven for killers as it is secluded, about four to five kilometres from the main Oyugis-Kisii road," a resident by the name Samuel Owida told the Nation.
“The forest has been known for being a dumping ground of lifeless bodies of people murdered elsewhere. Early this year, a body of a person said to have been abducted in Nakuru was found there,” he added.
Migori governor Zachary Okoth Obado’s Personal Assistant Michael Oyamo has already been arrested, in connection to abduction of Ms Sharon and Mr Oduor.