470 Street Children Arrested By Police in Nairobi Missing

470 street children who were arrested by police have reportedly gone missing with conflicting reports emerging on their whereabouts.

The children were arrested during an operation held between May 21 and May 22 and were to be vetted before being placed in care homes or being reunited with their families.

The operation was allegedly conducted by the police and Nairobi County Government officials.

However, the County Government has distanced itself from the operation.

“I was in a meeting. We did not know if they were doing an operation. When I got down there, I did not find anyone. Apparently, they overpowered our askaris and ran away," Nairobi County Social Services Department director Robert Muema said.

He disclosed that the street children overpowered the police and escaped back into the streets as the lorry carrying them left city hall.

However, the police have a different account of what happened.

According to Nairobi Central OCPD Robert Thuku, the children were transported to Dandora and Ruiru where they were set free after they claimed to be residing there.

The conflicting reports have made it difficult to know the whereabouts of the street children.

A spot check across the four rehabilitation centres operated by the County Government revealed that no children arrived there recently.

The management of the four facilities namely Shauri Moyo, Joseph Kang’ethe, Kayole and Bahati disclosed to a local newspaper that no children had been admitted to the homes in the recent past.

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