Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir has castigated the police for the brutal murder of two children during a raid on a terror suspect’s home in Msambeni Constituency, Kwale County on May 30, 2020.
Speaking in Mtwapa on Sunday, May 31, the MP criticised the manner in which the police carried out the morning raid, which also risked the lives of 3 more children who were in the house.
“The late MP Suleiman Dori was my friend and I was requested to help the affected family and get to the bottom of this matter.
“There will be no difference between police officers and terrorists if they behave the same way. Kenyans fear terrorist just the same way they fear police officers who operate as if they are not bound by the law. The fight against terror should not justify the killing of a 4-year-old baby whose postmortem showed bullet holes in her ribs.
“Ramadhan, her brother was also shot and killed. Their mother who was expectant was also shot, killing the foetus and seriously injuring her. What is the difference between police officers and terrorists?" Abdulswamad questioned.
He also deconstructed police claims that the suspect resisted arrest by throwing a grenade at the officers.
“The police accused the suspected of using a grenade yet his postmortem did not show even a single residue of the explosive,” he explained.
He noted that neighbours and eyewitnesses were able to see the incident as it happened, adding that he had already engaged IPOA to investigate the matter.
“We cannot restore the lives of the children and the foetus that was developing in their mother but let it be on record that we did not keep quiet and let the police sweep it under the carpet,” he urged.
The suspect was reported to have used his children as human shields after police raided his home. A former elite GSU officer who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke stated that police should have refrained from shooting the minors.
“When they were used as a human shield, the officers shouldn’t have shot them. They should have engaged the terrorist in alternative ways to ensure the safety of the minors,” he spoke on the phone.
The incident has attracted the attention of US-based Washington Post.
The suspect’s son, Ramadhan Chatswa, explained that his father rushed outside after hearing a relative shout about being attacked by thieves. Then he heard gunshots and a blast that sent him and his mother sprawling. He stated that he gathered the children and hid in another room but police broke through the door and fired, killing his 6-year-old nephew.
Police then dragged him out, he narrated. “It is then that I saw my sister lying on her stomach in a pool of blood. I loved my sister the most,” he said in his hospital bed, weeping. His father was taken away and shot, he recalled.
