Probe launched after armed KDF, police officers’ scuffle at Likoni ferry
By Hilary KimuyuThe Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have launched a probe after a video of its soldiers being involved in a scuffle with police officers.
In a video clip that has since gone viral, several KDF soldiers all armed and in military regalia can be seen roughing up police officers at the Likoni ferry channel in Mombasa.
One of the KDF officers was seen slapping a security officer as uniformed men and women from both the KDF and NPS tried to calm the situation.
After all, the KDF team was right. Just found out that a security guard wanted them in a queue, and they were headed for a mission across Likoni. I think we condemned them unjustly. pic.twitter.com/tII8MIiYsO
— Abuga Makori EGH, MBE (@abuga_makori) April 28, 2024
At one point, the soldiers physically assault one of the police officers by slapping and punching him in the face, while a concerned citizen is heard questioning, “What is wrong with them?”
In a statement, the KDF confirmed that the incident took place on Saturday, April 27 evening.
“To establish the circumstances leading to the incident, Military Police and requisite investigation agencies are currently handling the matter. The incident is highly regrettable. As KDF personnel, we are beholden to the core value of professionalism,” the statement said.
The incident comes just a week after four KDF soldiers were arrested in Lodwar following a bitter confrontation with police officers over the arrest of four of their colleagues.
On April 17, a similar incident was reported in Lodwar, Turkana County when about ten servicemen raided a police station to release their colleagues who had been detained for disarming a police officer at a roadblock near Turkana University College.
However, KDF said the soldiers neither assaulted a police officer nor raided a police station, but added that investigations had been launched.
The four servicemen who were detained had engaged in a confrontation with a policeman while they were heading to Moi Gardens to fetch water on a bowser.
They claimed that the police delayed their trip. Several shots were fired during the incident but no injuries were reported.
In another incident, in Rabai Sub-county, Kilifi County, police at Kambe Ribe Police Station detained a suspect for assault. Following the arrest, a relative of the suspect, a KDF officer stationed in Garissa, arrived at the station and demanded the suspect’s release.
According to a police statement, the KDF officer physically attacked a police officer, forcibly freeing the suspect by breaking through a steel door and window pane in the report office.
“The said KDF soldier assaulted police officer William Omondi by twisting his right hand at the wrist joint and punching him at the chest with his fist. They further broke the steel door and window pane to the report office letting the suspect to escape from there in. They turned to the complainant of the assault case who was also present, strangled and beat him at the report office,” read part of the police report.
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