Police have been accused of abducting a 60-year-old identified as Joseph Kimani Machiri at his home in Kairi, Mathioya Constituency, on the night of Tuesday, August 12, 2024.
CCTV footage depicts heavily armed gunmen believed to be police officers making their way into the compound of Kimani before turning off lights and carrying him off.
The incident happened barely a few hours after the gunmen allegedly abducted Kimani’s son early during the day and carried him off to an unknown place.
The son, named David Machiri Kimani was said to have been abducted earlier at his home in Thogoto, Kiambu County. Speaking to the press, the family said that they do not the whereabouts of their abducted kin.
Ndegwa Njiru, the lawyer representing the family claimed the two were abducted after the court granted them bail in a case that is underway relating to David Machiri and a local bank in a Ksh1.5 billion fraud case.
Machiri who was a former employee of the said local bank was arrested on July 12 and charges of defrauding the bank Ksh1.5 billion were lodged.
According to Njiru, the lawyer representing the family, the prosecution team had requested the court to be allowed to restrain Kimani for 21 days for further investigations but the court declined and granted him bail.
The court argued an officer investigating the matter had included the father as a person of interest in the case.
Nancy Wambui, a spouse of Joseph Kimani said he had spent the day with the family in Church before the incident occurred.
“Once they broke in, they dragged out my husband and took him away. I have not seen him since then,” she stated.
Kenneth Mwangi, brother and neighbour said he heard noises and thought it was from a far-off place. His intervention with a panga was not the match of seven armed men who forced him back to his house threatening to shoot him.
It comes as police have been under intense scrutiny over numerous abductions that have taken place in the recent past. Pressure is piling up for police officers to stop the abductions.
Lawyer Njiru has condemned the police for abuse of power and called for intervention by relevant authorities.
“It is very bad for paid officers to engage in abductions. Police are supposed to follow the rule of law. We are calling the acting IG and Kindiki to tell us the whereabouts of my client,” Ndegwa Njiru demanded.
Mathioya Sub-County Police Commander Paul Karobia confirmed they had received the case and have since launched an investigation of the incident.
