In the small, windswept and isolated village of Todonyang, near the Kenya–Ethiopia border on the shores of Lake Turkana, a haunting silence hangs in the air.

The wind blows across scattered homesteads, shrewd in a plain desert, past graves marked by stones and makeshift wooden crosses, leaving testimony to lives lost in a war that few Kenyans know about, and fewer still have tried to stop.

For 14-year-old Ekiru Ekal, the word “massacre” is not just something he hears on the news; it is something he survived.

“The Dassanech militia came before sunrise. We heard the gunshots before we saw them shooting indiscriminately. My father died trying to get my younger brother to safety. The all village plunged into silence,” he says, staring blankly at the lakeside.

Ekiru’s father is among over 450 people killed in a string of brutal attacks across Todonyang, Kokuro, Meyan, and Lowarengak in Turkana North in the past few years.

According to the Turkana North Professionals’ Association (TNPA), these communities are now the frontlines of what they call a slow-motion genocide carried out with impunity, and enabled by what they describe as the government's silence and inaction.

The Turkana people have long occupied the remote northern edge of Kenya, living in a harsh but proud environment.

For generations, their communities have navigated the challenges of drought, marginalization, and inter-ethnic tension.

But nothing has prepared them for the relentless violence now sweeping across their villages.

The attackers, believed to be well-armed militias from neighboring Ethiopia, particularly the Dassanach (Merile) and Nyang’atom tribes, often strike without warning, killing indiscriminately.

Survivors describe homes burned, families ambushed during herding, and even school compounds attacked.

Government officers are not spared either. Some are gunned down while on official duty, and still, no one is held accountable.

“We are being slaughtered like animals. Our children no longer ask when school will reopen. They ask if they will survive the next week,” said a local head teacher, Abdi Mohammed.

On June 1, the Turkana North Professionals’ Association, made up of doctors, teachers, engineers, and civil servants hailing from the region, issued a public statement condemning the government’s failure to protect its citizens.

It reads not just as a petition, but as an emotional reckoning, a confrontation with a state that many here feel has long abandoned them.

“The Government of Kenya has abandoned its moral and constitutional responsibility. Turkana North has been treated as an expendable frontier, a buffer zone for foreign aggression, not a homeland for Kenyan citizens,” read the statement in part.

In their 12-point list of recommendations, the TNPA calls for sweeping reforms: from establishing Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) camps along the border to creating aerial surveillance, to formally declaring massacre sites as national memorial zones.

The violence is not new. The statement references atrocities as far back as 1992, when over 60 Turkana civilians were murdered in Natete.

It chronicles multiple waves of attacks in Todonyang, the most recent in 2025, and refers to a rolling tally of deaths in Meyan, Kokuro, and Lowarengak, many of which go unreported and uncounted.

But what shocks the most isn’t just the frequency of the attacks, but the alleged complicity of state actors.

“Security officers stationed here see the attacker’s pass. They say nothing. They do nothing. Some even warn us not to interfere. How can you live like this? How can you trust a government that watches you die?” posed Napuma Kinei, a resident.

Association Chairman Nichodemus Ing’olan asserts that in Todonyang, there are no official memorials for the dead.

"No national flags at half-mast. No state visits. And not a single arrest yet, massive death of innocent Kenyans continues to sweep the entire region."

“We bury our own. We mourn our own. We protect our own. But we are tired of doing the work of a nation that refuses to see us, “Ing’olan said.

He said for many, the pain is compounded by what feels like willful ignorance from the rest of the country.

Media coverage is sporadic, government statements are rare, and public attention is fleeting.

Even when government officers are killed, the reaction is muted with no national address from President William Ruto, no deployment of special forces, no justice, he said.

“It’s as though Turkana lives don’t matter. What message does that send to our people, our children, our future? We want peace, not war. But peace requires presence. Peace requires protection. Right now, we have neither.” Ing’olan said.

The Kenya-Ethiopia border in Turkana North is as much a psychological as it is a physical scar of the bloodbath remains a misery.

In many areas, the militia has taken control of the border point at Lopeimukat –Lotira belt, and there is no visible demarcation.

The only boundary seems to be the one between life and death and between state protection and abandonment, Ing'olan said.

He explains that despite previous bilateral talks, no permanent security arrangements have been enforced.

The TNPA is now calling for the creation of a permanent KDF buffer zone and joint security operations with Ethiopia, provided Kenyan sovereignty is not compromised.

Ing'olan regretted that perhaps the most tragic consequence of the violence is the trauma inflicted on the next generation.

In Meyan, entire families have fled to neighbouring towns, leaving behind empty schools, deserted churches, and ruined clinics. The few who remain live in constant fear.

Despite assurances from the government about increased security, fear and despair have taken hold of the residents of Todonyang, a village situated along the volatile Kenya-Ethiopia border, where armed militias continue to terrorize locals.

The community, which primarily relies on fishing in Lake Turkana, feels helpless as violence persists, even with the presence of heavily armed security units like the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) and the General Service Unit (GSU).

Tragedy struck three weeks ago when four fishermen were brutally gunned down in their sleep by armed members of the Merile militia.

According to witnesses, the attackers sprayed bullets at the unsuspecting men camped near the lakeshore before vanishing into their villages in the Lopeimukat and Lotira settlements near the disputed border.

This attack has reignited long-standing fears and anger among locals, who accuse the government of neglecting their suffering.

For many, the border conflict, driven by competition over fishing resources and contested territorial lines, has become a death trap.

Jacenta Abenyo, a nominated Member of County Assembly (MCA) from Turkana North, was visibly shaken as she addressed the media.

“Why are our people being slaughtered daily despite heavy security deployment?” she asked.

“This militia kills for fun. They shoot, count bodies, steal victims' organs, and retreat without facing any consequences.”

Abenyo issued a grim warning: if the government cannot protect its people, it must allow locals to defend themselves.

“We cannot continue to be sacrificial lambs. Soon, we may be forced to flee our ancestral land and seek refuge in safer countries,” she said.

The community’s frustration has intensified, with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen facing criticism for allegedly failing to implement a meaningful security plan.

According to Abenyo, instead of equipping local police reservists with weapons or logistical support, Murkomen “just came to decorate them with uniforms.”

Turkana Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai said Todonyang has experienced more than five massacres at the hands of the militia in recent months.

“These acts are being carried out within Kenyan territory. The Merile militia has become a thorn in our flesh. The only solution is to uproot them from our land,” the governor stated.

Lomorukai expressed frustration that while Turkana has maintained peaceful relations with neighboring communities such as the Ethiopian Nyangatom, Uganda’s Karamoja, and South Sudan’s Toposa, the Merile militia continues to defy peace and coexistence.

“They seem unwilling to live harmoniously with others under the Ateker umbrella,” he remarked.

The government, however, insists that efforts are underway to restore order. County Police Commander John Tarus stated that coordination with Ethiopian authorities is ongoing, and search efforts continue for more than 40 fishermen reported missing following previous militia attacks.

Turkana County Commissioner Julius Kavita described the situation as a “sad moment” but urged residents to remain calm.

He acknowledged that communication breakdowns had delayed prompt responses during recent attacks, including the recovery of four bullet-riddled bodies now at Lodwar County Referral Hospital.

“We are beefing up security,” Kavita promised. “Retaliation is not the answer.”

However, many locals are still reeling from the pain of losing loved ones, with family members missing from earlier incidents.

Governor Lomorukai unveiled a memorial plaque bearing the names of 40 people believed to have died during the Todonyang massacre.

This memorial plaque has created tensions between the County and National government, even as the national government insists that a search and rescue operation is ongoing four months after the incident.

The County government defended its decision to unveil the plaque, explaining that the names were recorded by family members who have not seen their loved ones since the attack.

A senior County official, who requested anonymity, stated that the county government relied on information from survivors and relatives to conclude that the individuals were massacred.

According to Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Abdi Hassan, 66 survivors have been rescued, while 38 are still missing.

Moses Ekai, a survivor, testified that more than 40 people were either hacked to death or shot during the attack.

“I can recall many of us who were fishing in the lake being hacked with machetes while running for our lives. More than 40 people I know have never been traced since the incident,” Ekai said.

A search and rescue mission launched by the Interior CS only managed to retrieve three bodies from the lake.