Owners of petrol stations from Kisii town now want the national government to deploy security officers to their stations of work in a bid to combat future incidents of looting by rioting groups.
This comes days after a petrol station located near Gusii Institute of Technology was vandalised by rioting students following a tragic road accident near the college that left three people dead and a dozen others receiving treatment at Kisii teaching and referral hospital.
Speaking on Monday after a meeting at Hotel Dados, Falcon Petrol station representative Faruk Abdallah asked the national government to deploy security personnel to avert such incidents in future.
“As petrol (station) owners in town, we would like to challenge the government to deploy security personnel to help us tackle such behaviour. We must be protected because we enormously contribute to the economy of the nation,” he said.
“We are innocent hence victim of circumstances. If the security is improved in the region, we will be able to work efficiently without any disturbance,” added Abdulkadir Mahat of Shell.
They condemned the looting by students of GIT and asked for expeditious enquiry to bring the culprits into book.
“As members of petrol station owners in Kisii, we condemn the incident and demand that the state investigates the incident and bring those who looted the business premises. They should be arrested and face criminal proceedings,” Mr Mahat said.