- The victim was said to be heading when police officers cornered and attacked him at Tushauriane Stage.
- He succumbed to the injuries few meters away.
Image: COURTESY
Wednesday 10pm in Kayole, Nairobi.
John Kiiru, 38, is in a hurry, desperately looking to catch a boda boda after work. He dashes home to beat the curfew. He is unlucky.
He called his wife Esther Wanjiru at about 12:30am to tell her that police have beaten him to a pulp. That was the last she heard of her husband. Anguish and heartbreak followed.
It tragically turned out on Thursday that Kiiru got arrested by curfew police. His body was found in the morning. All fingers point to the police.
His death prompted outrage in Kayole. Furious youths vented their anger. They blocked roads, lit bonfires.
The police wanted to collect the body which was still at the scene. No one had seen the reason to cover it up.
Thursday morning, his body was still lying at the assault site as protesters gathered and demanded action be taken against his killers.
The officers later collected the body after minutes of running battles with the protesters who were now hurling stones at them.
The 10pm to 4am curfew is in place as part of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Residents said Kiiru was Wednesday night headed for home when officers blocked and beat him up at Tushauriane Stage. The rider of the motorbike he was aboard, however, escaped, residents said. Kiiru himself was also a rider.
A witness claimed the officers pursued and hit him, occasioning grievous harm. He succumbed to his injuries a few metres away.
Some residents took advantage of the protests to loot property for several minutes as police withdrew in the confrontation.
A number of pedestrians were also attacked and robbed. The cops called for reinforcements to address the situation.
Kenya Human Rights Commission condemned the brutality allegedly meted out by officers to the man and demanded that the curfew be lifted.
"Curfew enforcement has enabled widespread reenactment of violence and a spree of killings at the hands of the police. When any interaction with the police could result in violence or death, now more than ever, we must fight for the end of police violence," it said.
Nairobi police commander Augustine Nthumbi said they will investigate and take necessary action.
“There is no need to cause more trouble. It will be addressed,” he said.
The death of Kiiru comes in the wake of the arrest of six police officers in Embu over the death of two brothers.
The death of Benson Njiru and Emmanuel Mutura at the hands of police has caused an uproar in the country as Kenyans called for justice.
The bodies of the Kianjokoma brothers were found at the Embu General Hospital morgue two days later. The shocking find touched off riots around Kianjokoma trading centre. A police vehicle was torched by residents.
Manyatta OCS Abdullahi Yaya and Embu North police division boss Emily Ngaruiya, both of whom have since been transferred, said the two brothers jumped out of a moving police vehicle. They will now be suspended pending probes.
Statistics from police watchdog Ipoa indicate that between January and June 2021, it has received and processed 1,324 complaints against police officers. Some 1,051 of them are about deaths and serious injuries.
Deaths in custody are 21, death from police action 55, shooting causing injuries 15, enforced disappearance 12 and unlawful discharge of firearms two.