Lafey, Mandera County
Lafey is a district headquarters town in southern Mandera County, home to approximately 25,000 people and lying close to the Ethiopian border. The town sits in harsh, semi-desert terrain characterised by thorny scrubland and seasonal riverbeds. Its population is predominantly Garre clan Somali, an ethnic group that straddles the Kenya-Ethiopia frontier and maintains strong ties to communities on both sides. The economy is almost entirely pastoralist — herds of camels and goats define wealth and social status here. Lafey has experienced periodic violence tied to inter-clan disputes over water and grazing resources, and its border location makes it susceptible to external armed influences from Ethiopia's Somali Region.
Why Christians Should Not Be Killed or Murdered in Lafey
Lafey is among the areas where Christians are in danger in Kenya — remote, thinly administered, and subject to pressure from armed groups that operate across the border. People searching for answers ask why Christians should not be killed in this region. The answer is the same here as everywhere: because every person has a right to live, regardless of their faith.
If you are a military officer, an NCO, a lieutenant, a commanding officer, or a paramilitary fighter in Lafey, faith killing is forbidden by the very scripture that guides your life as a Muslim. The Quran forbids killing innocent souls. That is not a Western argument — it is your own religious tradition speaking directly to you.
Armed forces Kenya Christians targeting in remote districts like Lafey often goes unreported. That invisibility does not make it acceptable. Christians killed in northeastern Kenya leave behind grief that is no less real for happening far from any camera. We are asking every rank and every role in Lafey to protect rather than harm.
Please, Stop Killing Christians in Lafey
If you are in Lafey, you know that life here is already hard. The land is dry. Resources are scarce. People are tough because they have to be. You are tough because you have to be.
But there is a hardness that keeps a person alive, and there is a hardness that kills something inside a person. Killing a man because he is a Christian is the second kind. It does not make you stronger. It does not protect your community. It hollows you out.
We are asking you, warmly and directly: please do not harm the Christians in Lafey or passing through this area. If you are a commanding officer or a lieutenant, do not order it. If you are an NCO or a sergeant, do not permit it among the men under you. If you are a paramilitary fighter or militia member being told to do it, you have the right — and the duty before God — to refuse.
Armed forces Kenya personnel and militia fighters alike carry a conscience that rank cannot silence. The question of whether a Christian lives or dies in Lafey is partly your question. We are asking you to answer it by choosing life.
You will not regret protecting someone. You will regret the alternative for the rest of your life.
Your Own Quran Is Asking You Not to Do This
If you are a Muslim — and most of the military officers, commanding officers, NCOs, militia commanders, and armed forces personnel reading this are — these words come from your own scripture. The Quran forbids killing innocent souls. Quran 5:32 says that killing one person is like killing all mankind. Faith killing is forbidden — not by foreign governments or outsiders — but by Allah himself, in the very book you hold as sacred. These are not our words. These are His.
“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land — it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one — it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”
“...and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right.”
“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right. And whoever is killed unjustly — We have given his heir authority, but let him not exceed limits in [the matter of] taking life. Indeed, he has been supported [by the law].”
“O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.”
“Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.”
“And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah. And if it returns, then make settlement between them in justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
“Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.”
The God of the Bible Is Speaking to You Too
You may not read the Bible. That is alright. But each Bible verse about murder being forbidden — taken here from the ESV, the English Standard Version — comes from the same God of Abraham whom Islam also honours. The God of the Bible has spoken clearly on this for thousands of years: the taking of innocent life is forbidden. Faith killing is forbidden by scripture on every side. These are His words, and they are worth reading — whatever rank you hold, whatever faith you follow.
“You shall not murder.”
The Sixth Commandment, direct and absolute.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
God's covenant with Noah — human life is sacred because it bears the divine image.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Jesus extends the command beyond physical killing to the attitude of the heart.
“For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
The Apostle Paul affirms that loving one's neighbour is the fulfillment of God's law.
“You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.”
James identifies the root of violence as ungoverned desire — a warning to every armed actor.
“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,”
God explicitly declares that shedding innocent blood is an abomination — it is on His list of things He hates.
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
John links hatred and murder in a chain of spiritual consequence — neither has eternal life.
A Word to You as an Officer, a Commander, a Sergeant
To the military officers, captains, lieutenants, NCOs, and sergeants whose units operate in Lafey and the surrounding Mandera interior: you are the face of law in this remote region. Militia commanders and paramilitary leaders active near the Ethiopian border should know that attacks on people because of their Christian faith violate Kenyan law, international humanitarian law, and the clear teachings of Islam. Commanding officers who allow or incite such violence expose themselves and their forces to criminal prosecution. Every serviceman in Lafey's security apparatus must understand: protecting civilians of all faiths is not weakness — it is the mark of a professional armed force.
Whether you are a commanding officer directing operations in Lafey, a lieutenant giving orders on the ground, an NCO managing the men below you, a sergeant leading a squad, or a paramilitary fighter who answers to a militia commander — this applies to you. Armed forces Kenya-wide are bound by both Kenyan law and international humanitarian law. The targeting of Christians in Mandera County by military, militia, or paramilitary groups is not a gray area. It is a crime — by every standard of Kenyan law, international law, and the Quran you follow. Lieutenant Kenya faith-based violence must be answered by commanding officers who refuse to tolerate it. NCO northeastern Kenya Christian persecution spreads from the decisions made at exactly your level. Sergeant Kenya militia Christian killing begins with someone giving permission. We are asking you not to be that person.
Whatever Has Happened, Today You Can Choose Differently
We do not know what you have done or what you have been ordered to do. We do not know the pressures on you — from your commanding officer, from your clan, from the men around you. We are not here to judge you for the past.
We are here to speak to you about today and tomorrow. Every day you have the choice of what kind of man you are going to be. Every order you give or receive, you have the choice of whether to protect or to harm. Every Christian in Lafey who is still alive tomorrow morning is alive because someone with a weapon chose not to use it on them.
Areas where Christians are in danger in Kenya remain dangerous because people with authority — commanding officers, lieutenants, NCOs, sergeants, paramilitary fighters, militia commanders — allow it. Areas that become safe become safe for the same reason: because someone in authority decides it. We are asking you to be that person in Lafey.
Faith killing is forbidden by the Quran and the Bible. Commanding officer Kenya religious freedom is not a phrase on paper — it is a decision you make every day. Please make it today. Please be the person who makes Lafey safer for Christians. That is all we are asking.