Balambala MP Abdikadir Aden files complaint with Ipoa over alleged Kenya police brutality

Balambala MP Abdikadir Aden has accused police of beating up Nunow residents.

Mr Aden said police officers descended on the village on Tuesday looking for youths who had allegedly stoned a bus along the Garissa-Modogashe road.

The lawmaker told The Standard that when the officers failed to trace the youths, they rounded up villagers and beat them up, leaving some critically injured.

The MP said that he had lodged a complaint with the Inspector General of Police regarding the incident and demanded that action be taken against the officers involved, in which over 15 people are said to have sustained multiple injuries.

"This kind of brutality is unjustifiable and we cannot accept this in the Kenya of today. I have demanded answers from the IG Joseph Bionnet and I have also launched complaints with the Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) and the Kenya National Human Rights Commission," he said. The police took the action after the owner of the bus reported the matter to the local police station, a few kilometres from where the incident took place.

The MP also demanded that disciplinary measures be instituted against area police bosses.

"The brutal action of the police force in this operation violates the fundamental rights of the affected people under Article 29 of the Constitution and contravenes Article 244, which requires the police service to uphold the highest standards, professionalism and to comply with constitutional standards of human rights and fundamental freedoms," read the letter to Ipoa.