Police detain suspect arrested before fellow officer’s death in Korogocho slums
Kariobangi Police Station on Wednesday obtained orders to detain a man who was being interrogated before an officer was shot dead under unclear circumstances in Korogocho slums.
Joseph Kamau Njenga will be held at the station pending investigations into the murder of Police Constable Abdikadir Ali Kula who was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at a health centre in the area.
SHOT DEAD
Police Constable Francis Iluku obtained the order to detain the suspect for 14 days pending investigations.
Five police officers had arrested Njenga for unknown reasons but a crowd demanded his release leading to a scuffle, during which Constable Kula was shot in the abdomen.
“The respondent (Njenga) had been stopped by police officers on foot patrol within Korogocho slums and while he was being interrogated, a group of young men appeared, demanding for his release. Suddenly one of the gang men shot PC Kula on the right side of his ribs,” Iluku said in documents filed in the Makadara Law Courts.
CONTROVERSY
PC Iluku told Senior Resident Magistrate Eunice Suter that he needs time to record witness statements, obtain postmortem report for his departed colleague and get Njenga’s mental assessment report.
The police officer’s death is shrouded in controversy with initial reports having it that the officer was stoned to death in the area.
But area residents have refuted this account of events, claiming that the officer succumbed to a gun shot injury inflicted on him by a colleague.