Fridah Ongili, the wife to Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino, on Wednesday, July 19, revealed a frantic 24-hour search for her husband in over five police stations and ended in Kirinyaga, around 100 kilometres from Nairobi.
This followed reports that the parliamentarian had been arrested by detectives at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on the eve of Wednesday's anti-government protests.
Giving details about the situation, Fridah explained that after a long search, she discovered that her husband was being held at Wanguru Police Station in Mwea.
“Yesterday (Tuesday, July 18), he called me at around 11:00 PM and told me that he was at the airport and had been detained by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) officers," Fridah narrated.
“His phone went off and has been off ever since. I have been searching for him. I started at DCI headquarters, then went to the airport and proceeded to Muthaiga, Gigiri, Kilimani, Kileleshwa and Embakasi police stations.”
Fridah explained that during her search, she got wind that her husband could be held in Kirinyaga County at Wanguru Police Station.
“He is definitely here because a lady took me aside and told me so,” she stated.
She explained that despite knowing the whereabouts of her husband, she was denied entry as the station was cordoned by a heavy presence.
Fridah detailed that her pleas to be allowed to give her husband food and medicine fell on deaf ears.
In a passionate video appeal, she begged Azimio Leader Raila Odinga to facilitate her release remarking that Babu’s crime was fighting for Kenyans.
She also asked the government to let her access the MP as he had been unwell at the time of the arrest.
The police are yet to issue a statement about the arrest of the politician or if they are pressing any charges against him.
Azimio in a statement released on Wednesday, July 19, called for the immediate release of the MP together with other Kenyans who had been arrested during the anti-government protests.
