Homa Bay youths carrying the body of Albert Ojwang have stormed the Mawego Police Station, where he was first booked upon his arrest on June 7, and set it on fire.
In a video seen by Kenyans.co.ke, a mammoth crowd was seen running while a few at the front were hoisting up the coffin, which had just landed in Homa Bay from Nairobi.
Running and singing dirges, the youths marched towards the Mawego Police Station, where he was temporarily held before being transported to the Central Police Station in Nairobi.
Reportedly, the exercise was being carried out to ward off evil spirits that might disturb his peace.
The situation, however, turned chaotic, with the mourners turning into protesters and setting fire to sections of the police station.
This comes a day after his family held a requiem service on Wednesday, July 2, at the Ridgeways Baptist Church in Nairobi, where they eulogised him as unproblematic and taken too soon.
Recalling his last moments, his mother, Eucabeth Ojwang, said, “They took my Albert just when I had prepared lunch for him. He had not even taken a bite of ugali before the police took him. When they came, Albert was trembling. I asked him what was wrong; he told me he had done nothing."
Ojwang's transfer from Homa Bay to Nairobi had been subject to scrutiny, with several legal minds questioning the legality of the move.
When the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss, Mohammed Amin, appeared before the Senate on June 11, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale demanded to see the court order, upon which Amin explained why it was not necessary.
"We do not require a court order to move a suspect from one police jurisdiction to another police jurisdiction," he stated.
"The deceased was booked in and later booked out of Mawego Police Station at 1600 hours and booked into Central Police Station at 2132 hours."
Ojwang's death escalated to a point where the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eliud Lagat, stepped aside following public uproar calling for his resignation.
