Security agents on the receiving end over extra-judicial killings

By Kipchumba Some

Two weeks after The Standard exclusively reported the disappearance of youth suspected to be Mungiki followers at the hands of police, we continue to receive more complaints from affected families.

This week a family of James Murigi, 31, from Kayole reported of his disappearance on the afternoon of Thursday June 23 this year. He has not been traced.

James, a milk vendor, was arrested at 11 o’clock in Dandora by people his family claim identified themselves as police officers.

"He called one of his friends informing him that police officers had arrested him and that they were requesting Sh20,000 for his release," explained his mother Grace Wanjiku.

Upon learning of the development, the family raised the money and sent to him via M-Pesa at 2pm. His phone went dead soon after this.

"This is common here (Kayole)," said his wife Beth Murigi. "We thought he would be released soon after paying the money, but we realised that something was wrong when he did not return by evening," she added.

After recording a statement at Kayole Police Station, the family has visited other police stations in Nairobi and beyond, hospitals and mortuaries. But there is no sign of Murigi.

Our last investigation revealed that ex-servicemen have formed kidnapping and extortion rings in the country. But in this case, fingers have firmly been pointed at a serving police officer.

An officer nicknamed Foiyo/Boiyo, and who operates mostly in the area, is said to have taken Murigi to custody. The same officer had featured prominently in the 2008 report titled ‘A Cry of Blood’ by Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

That report alleged more than 1,500 youth were illegally killed between June and September 2008 by police in the guise of cracking down on the proscribed Mungiki sect members.

It was on the basis of this report that the UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings and summary executions accused the Government of running death squads within the force.

KNCHR says it continues to receive complaints of disappearances at the hands of the police and in one of the two cases that it has forwarded to the Attorney-General for action, the officer features again.

He is accused of abducting a matatu driver who had gone to follow up on his vehicle that had been impounded at Central Police Station. Boiyo is said to have called him aside and bundled him in to a saloon police car. The driver has been missing since then.

In 2008, a former driver of the dreaded anti-Mungiki Kwekwe squad, Bernard Kiriinya, confessed to KNCHR and implicated a number of high ranking officers in the murder and disappearance of Mungiki suspects.

The Government dismissed Kiriinya’s testimony as the work of a renegade police officer, and consequently nothing was done to the officers he implicated.

In fact, most of the officers who served in this squad were promoted last year albeit in controversial circumstances. This is one of the promises that Kiriinya said his bosses had made to them for doing the dirty war.

However, Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe said more than 10 officers had been disciplined and some discharged from duty, for various offences, including abductions and extortions this year alone.

In our earlier serialisation, we had reported how a Form Two student from Gachie, Joseph Njenga, 16, disappeared in March at the hands of people locals believe were plain clothes police officers.

specific operation

During that period, a pastor at a local church, James Njoroge, was also arrested and harassed by people who told him they were police officers but later released at the gates of Gigiri Police Station.

Following our initial report, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere set up a team to investigate allegations of unlawful killings by police. He also asked the families of the victims to record statements.

According to Mr Kiraithe, the team is yet to finalise its work. However, none of the families have been approached for additional details so far.

"You will get answers very soon. I cannot say much because investigations are ongoing. We urge everybody to be patient," he said.