Three of those injured were shot in Ahero and two in Kisumu

Barricaded road by youths who were advancing towards Kisumu Central police Station to demand answers over Miguna Miguna detention on February 06,2018. (Photo: Denish Ochieng/ Standard)

Five people shot by police during last week’s protests to push for the release of deported lawyer Miguna Miguna are still nursing wounds in hospital.

Three people were killed during violent protests in Miguna’s hometown of Ahero, some 20km from Kisumu town.

Three of those injured were shot in Ahero and two in Kisumu.

Michael Ochieng, Joseph Otieno and Isaiah Oguta, who were shot in the stomach, and Fred Omondi who was shot in the shoulder, are still admitted at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Elly Okoth, whose chest was grazed by a bullet, has been discharged.

The five said they were shot as police moved in to stop a crowd of protesters who were looting beer from a lorry. The lorry was set ablaze in the melee.

“I was going about my business and the protests were relatively peaceful. Suddenly, people were scampering in all directions as police fired several shots. I only realised I had been hit when I fell,” saidMr Otieno.

KISUMU ACTIVIST

According to a report compiled by Kisumu-based activist Audi Ogada, the number of those injured in the police clampdown could be higher.

Among those killed was 17-year-old Richard Okumu, a Form Three student at Lela Secondary School, and Lazaro Ochieng’ a revenue officer with the county government.

Okumu's relatives said he was not involved in the protests.

“We did not know there were any protests in Ahero. He had gone to pay some money and was meant to come back home immediately. We later learnt he had been shot in the neck at the Ahero Bridge as police confronted protesters said to have been looting a lorry,” said Beatrice Auma, Okumu's sister.

The three bodies are still lying at the hospital mortuary.

Chaos erupted in Kisumu, Ahero, Awasi, Homa Bay and Migori towns after it emerged that police had failed to present Miguna in court as ordered by a judge amid rumours that he had fallen ill in custody.

Bonfires were lit, major roads blocked and shops closed as protesters took to the streets.