Police in Nairobi last evening denied claims by Mukuru kwa Reuben residents that the eight youths they killed on Tuesday evening were innocent.
They say the eight men were criminals. Four officers allegedly cornered the youths at an open space in the slum, herded them into a corner and executed them. The youths, aged between 17 and 24 years, were shot at close range from the back by the officers, who were said to be tracing a stolen mobile phone.
The Star visited the city mortuary yesterday and established that the victims each had a bullet wound either in the head or the back.
The bullets seem to have entered the back of their heads and exited from the face while others entered from the back and exited from the chest, an indication that they were all shot at close range.
Yesterday, residents who included friends and relatives of the youths protested against the killings.
The residents started their march at the scene where the eight suspects were executed. They carried placards that read: “Vijana sio kuku. We need justice.”
Witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity claim police ambushed the youths at an open field where they were chewing miraa.
They claimed the officers herded the youths into a corner and executed them in cold blood.
Makadara police boss Nehemiah Lang’at last evening denied the claims and said police had recovered five homemade pistols from the youths. Other witnesses said only one toy pistol was recovered from a suspect identified as “Chief”.
The Star visited the Makadara police station to verify police claims there were five fake pistols but neither the divisional police boss nor the CID chief were in their offices.
One of the youth’s mother, Caroline Khiriga, said her son Elisha, 24, spent most of his time at their one-roomed house watching movies and was due to go for a driving test.