Four protesters have been arrested in Mombasa as planned protests to demand the arrest of Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat continue to heat up across the country.
Confirming the arrests shortly after they were made, activist and Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid shared clips of the arrests and the names of the four who were supposedly taken into custody while picketing in the coastal city.
According to the activist, the four, Francis Auma, Walid Sketty, Batuli Swaleh, and Mugambi Gichunge, are being held at the Central Police Station in Mombasa.
"Arrests in Mombasa already. Instead of arresting Lagat, they are arresting protestors demanding the arrest of Lagat," Khalid stated.
"They are now even targeting the baddies of Mombasa. Those arrested so far in Mombasa and are being held at Central Police Station are Mugambi Gichunge, Batuli Swaleh (Ms), Francis Auma and Walid Sketty. We demand their immediate and unconditional release."
In one of the videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the police officers were seen forcefully leading a female protester clad in a black buibui and a Kenyan flag scarf on her head.
In another, fellow protestors demanded that the police officers stop the arrests as they tried to bundle protestors into a waiting vehicle.
"Look at what our government is doing. They want to arrest me like a thief. Why are you arresting me? What have I done?" another protester asked a plain-clothed police officer trying to forcibly arrest him.
By the end of the video, the police officer did not show his badge or produce a warrant of arrest for the protester.
In Nairobi, the situation at the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) was exacerbated when police officers clashed with hundreds of protestors, lobbing tear gas at them.
A convoy of unidentified people on motorbikes was also spotted heading into the CBD, shouting that there would be no protests in town.
The suspected goons were said to have been deployed to quell the protests, causing a fracas when a journalist was treated to a wild foot chase and popular activist Hanifa Adani was also assaulted by the alleged goons.
