Nairobi Police Commander Philip Ndolo has explained the purpose of a chopper that was seen hovering around roadblocks mounted by police at the border points of the Nairobi Metropolitan area.
Reports had indicated that the helicopter was used by the state to track down devious Kenyans using alternative routes to sneak into and out of the city.
Speaking exclusively to Kenyans.co.ke, on April 8, Ndolo clarified that the chopper was not brought out solely for that purpose.
He added that the aircraft had been involved even before President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the movement ban in four counties including Nairobi.
"We started using the chopper a long time ago. We started using it even before the president declared Nairobi was on lockdown. The purpose of the chopper is to support us in areas where we are not able to see what is happening.
"A very good example is yesterday we wanted to approve all the positions where we have roadblocks. We used the chopper so that I could see if those were the correct positions, the behaviour of people and what is supposed to be done," stated Ndolo.
He further noted that the chopper is more useful at night but they used it during the day on Tuesday, April 7, because they had to approve the roadblock positions and the residential estates that fall on either sides.
As a result of the survey, the state transferred several roadblocks to avoid unnecessary inconvenience.
One such roadblock was in Kamulu area and was moved to Koma area 10 kilometers away, since most people who had bought land around the area work in Nairobi.
"We were able to change several positions because we were able to see where people were moving. So you cannot say we were using it because of the lockdown, no. That was the last item of it.
"Main reason for us is security. It is giving us aerial support which I am not able to see from my office," he added.
Since the ban was instituted by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, April 6, a number of Kenyans explored alternative routes to dodge the roadblocks while declaring that they are smarter than the authorities.
A video emerged on Tuesday, March 6, showing residents of Machakos county accessing the city through the banks of Athi River, as one person could be heard saying that they would overcome the lockdown order.
''We are sure to overcome this whether they like it or not,'' the manly voice could be heard.
{"preview_thumbnail":"/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/4tNYEerYURY.jpg?itok=X7psl63z","video_url":"","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}
