A police station in Ndunyu, Nyandarua County, was set on fire on Thursday evening by irate residents after a police officer allegedly shot a villager.
Reports indicate that the victim, a bodaboda rider, was part of the crowd that had gone to demonstrate outside the police station over cattle theft in the area when he was shot.
The demonstrations ensued after police officers arrested three suspects believed to be behind cattle rustling in the area and placed them inside the station awaiting arraignment.
However, the angry locals demanded that the suspects be handed over to them for 'discipline'. It was during the subsequent demonstrations that an officer shot the boda boda rider.
Following the incident, the locals attacked the police post and set it on fire, even as they demanded justice for the deceased.
Videos and images shared on the internet showed the police station entirely engulfed in fire, with the residents heard cheering from a distance.
Meanwhile, the boda boda rider was rushed to the North Kinangop Hospital while in critical condition. The National Police Service is yet to issue any formal statement on the incident.
The incident comes hours after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen issued a shoot-to-kill order against anyone who attempts to approach a police station.
Speaking to journalists moments after his press briefing on Thursday, June 26, said the order was due to the flawed justice system, where criminals arrested by police officers were later released and came back to mock those who arrested them.
He emphasised that acts of brutality against police officers and the destruction of government property would not be tolerated, adding that firearms held by officers were tools entrusted to them to uphold law and order.
"The problem that makes the police sometimes shoot down these criminals is that when these criminals are arrested, they are later released and come back to mock the officers who arrested them," he said.
He went on to add, "I have said that anyone who attempts to approach a police station should be shot down. We will not tolerate people who attack police officers."
