Complaints by 91 Ethiopian immigrants on their personal welfare led to their arrest, Isinya police commander Ancent Kaloki has said.
Kaloki said the immigrants complained of deplorable conditions in which they were living prompting them to seek help.
“The situation was so pathetic. They started reacting because of hunger and unfavourable conditions. The complaints exposed them leading to their arrest,” Kaloki said.
The immigrants were arrested after they broke lose from a private house in Kitengela, Kajiado county, on Sunday. Some of the immigrants were half-naked.
The foreigners, all men of between the ages of 18 - 25, escaped from a mansion at Tumaini Court in Milimani estate off the old Namanga Road.
A video seen by the Star shows the men running out of the home through its main gate after they allegedly broke it at around 4pm.
Independent sources divulged to the Star that the men were brought into the house in November 2021. They were reportedly transported inside a trailer.
"The men have been hiding in the house since November. The house belongs to a Kenyan but rented out to a Tanzanian suspected of having sneaked them in," a source told the Star hours after they broke lose.
The immigrants were processed at both Milimani police post and Kitengela police station before being distributed to other police stations across Kajiado county.
Kaloki said they were so many to be accommodated in one police station since the cells had no adequate space.
“We have made arrangements to distribute them in various police stations across Kajiado including Isinya where we have cells with adequate space,” he said.
The Directorate of Criminal Department said the illegal immigrants were believed to have been smuggled into the country from neighbouring countries.
DCI boss George Kinoti in a statement said preliminary investigations by police revealed that the 91 (of whom 44 are juveniles) were ferried to the location onboard a trailer.
They were being held temporarily as the smugglers sought means to sneak them into another country.
The DCI, however, is probing further into the case owing to the recent influx of immigrants, with the aim of paralysing probable human trafficking activities and nab the perpetrators.
"Meanwhile, the suspects have been booked in various police stations for interrogation and other legal procedures,” Kinoti stated on Sunday.
Those who spoke to reporters said they were brought into the country inside a container as goods on transit before they were hid inside the house. Some claimed trekking for three days.
“We were brought inside a container at night, we have undergone lots of problems. Some of us trekked for three days and were sleeping on the floor inside the house. The last lot of 20 people were brought in on Sunday,” an immigrant said.
Speaking in broken Kiswahili, another said some had been in the country for four months now.
“Today 20 people came while thirty others were brought in recently. We came to look for jobs in Nairobi.
“We want to return home, our relatives don’t know that we are in Kenya and starving. We have lots of problems including taking one meal after two days, we just survive on water. Please rescue us,” he said.
It is suspected that seven other illegal immigrants of Ethiopian origin arrested at Kasuitu slum in Athi River, Machakos on Sunday were part of the group.
They were tired and hungry. Well-wishers offered them snacks before being ferried to Athi River police station.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
