Two Recce Squad officers charged over Sh300,000 extortion

NAIROBI: Two officers attached to the elite General Service Unit's Recce Company were yesterday arraigned in court for extorting Sh 300,000 from a city resident over allegations of illegal connection of electricity.

Victor Mugambi Njoroge, Michael Etengay Epeyonon who are based in Ruiru were charged alongside Stephen Awour Odere (private investigator) and Peter Kebaso Onkangi (security guard) with extorting the money with menace from David Ochieng at Mathare Estate, Nairobi.

The four Njoroge, Epeyonon, Odere and Onkangi remained quite and camera shy as the charges were read to them by the court clerk.

The four were arrested on Thursday after detectives from CID Central Police Station received reports officers harassing residents over illegal connection of electricity.

They were later arrested and detained at Central Police Station and appeared before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Joyce Gandani where they denied the charges of extortion.

State counsel Nancy Nga'nga' told the court that the four on Thursday at Mathare Estate they demanded for Sh 300,000 from Ochieng for the alleged offence of illegal connection of electricity with intent to steal from him.

Nga'nga' said the prosecution has lined up three witnesses to testify in the case once trial begins on September 15.

The magistrate directed the four to deposit Sh 50,000 or execute a bond of Sh 200,000 awaiting their trial.

The arraignment of the two GSU officers comes in the wake of increasing extortion offences involving policemen. Over the past few weeks close to ten policemen have been arrested and arraigned in court on offences ranging from abduction to extortion in various parts of the country.

Two police officers Kawa Lumungati and Hassan Chesebe attached to Nakuru Central Police Station were on Wednesday charged with stealing assorted clothes from a Baringo Member of County Assembly (MCA).

Appearing before Principal Magistrate Liz Gicheha, the duo denied the charges and were released on a bond of Sh 80,000 each with a surety of a similar amount or a cash bail option of Ksh 30,000 pending the hearing of the matter on September 24.

Lumungati and Chesebe are alleged to have stolen clothes worth Sh 20,000 after they confiscated them from a suspect who was handed to them by members of the public on August 7.

This came barely a week after three officers from Nakuru Police Station were arraigned in a Kericho court and charged with abduction and extortion

The officers, Charles Shikami, Steve Mwongera and Francis Gitau were released on a cash bail of Ksh 100,000 each.

Three police officers and a woman accomplice were arraigned in court and charged with alleged extortion and abduction. The Nakuru-based officers and a civilian Riziki Paulo who was said to be Tanzanian national are accused of having abducted Abdul Kampanya and allegedly extorted Sh300,000 from him.

The accused are said to have jointly confined Kampanya on August 8, threatened him and extorted cash from him between Kericho and Kisumu highway and Kisumu-Kericho highway.

The four who appeared before Kericho senior resident magistrate Lilian Kiniale denied the charges and the officers were released on a cash bail of Sh100, 000 each while Riziki was denied the bail or bond pending further investigations about her nationality.

The magistrate ordered the Kericho Directorate of Criminal Investigation officers to provide the court with information on the vehicle and the other items before the case proceeds to the full hearing. The case will be mentioned on August 24 for further directions.

In a related case on July 14, a police couple Corporal Florence Beth Murevu and Constable Reuben Nyaruri Osebe, both from Isiolo police station were charged with soliciting for over solicited a Sh 40,000 bribe from Silas Mwithali M'mauta so that they could release his Toyota Probox that was held at the police station.

The husband and wife who were arrested by EACC detectives appeared before Meru Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochieng and denied the charges and were released on a personal bond of Sh200, 000 each.