Nyeri policemen arrested after receiving Sh128,000 bribe from Ethiopian aliens

Twelve  Ethiopian illegal immigrants and 2 Kenyan drivers shortly recently arrested in Athi River, case of foreigners using Kenya to transit to other country have been on the rise.

Four police officers attached to Mathira the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have been arrested after they allegedly received a Sh128,000 bribe from 16 illegal Ethiopian immigrants to release them.

The immigrants were traveling from Moyale to Nairobi when the officers intercepted them in Karatina area on Friday.

And after an interrogation, the officers allegedly agreed to release the immigrants at a fee. They will be charged with receiving a bribe and aiding the escape of a prisoner, police said.

According to police one of the constables agreed to have Sh58,000 sent to his mobile phone while the rest of the money was handed to the others.

The aliens were later arrested in Makutano area by officers from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit where they revealed what they had done earlier on to gain their freedom.

Senior officers led by Nyeri County Criminal Investigations Officer Bridget Kanya, Mathira OCPD  Mathew Gwiyo and his DCI counterpart Charles Kipchumba led the operation to arrest the four officers on Saturday afternoon.

The aliens and the officers are expected in court Monday morning.

Tens of Ethiopians are annually arrested in Kenya while on transit. It is not clear how they manage to navigate through various police roadblocks. 

Police and immigration officials have decried increased cases in which Ethiopian aliens are nabbed in the country while on transit to either Tanzania or South Africa. Police face difficulties in dealing with the aliens because they cannot speak in Swahili or English.

What is puzzling is how the immigrants manage to evade many police roadblocks mounted from Moyale border where they use to Nairobi. There are more than 20 roadblocks on the stretch, which raises the seriousness of the security agents to tame the practice amid complaints of corruption in the security sector.