Fishermen in Homa Bay county have raised alarm after 12 of them were on Sunday ambushed and robbed of their merchandise by three armed robbers.
The incident happened while the group were on a fishing expedition near Ringiti Island on Monday night, and lost their boat engines and mobile phones in the process.
Confirming the incident, Edward Oremo, Chair of the Homa Bay Beach Management Unit Networks said that the robbers stole 3 engines worth hundreds of thousands of shillings.
“The fishermen were not able to identify the men, the robbers took away three boat engines valued at Sh850,000,” he told the Nation.
The fishermen were then forced to row their boats to the shores of Lake Victoria due to the absence of the engines.
Suba North police boss Charles Mwangi could not confirm the alleged robbery, saying that the incident has not been reported at the nearby Mbita Police Station.
"I am still unable to tell what transpired. I am still waiting for the victims to come and report the incident,” said the officer.
Mr Oremo called upon Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i to keep his initial promise to increase security patrols in the lake to prevent such incidents.
He added that very less could be done to save the victims of the robbery due to lack of patrol boats in Suba North constituency.