Did these police officers fake their injuries?
Questions have emerged over the condition of injured police officers who were airlifted to Nairobi for specialised treatment following the anti-IEBC protests in Kisumu and Siaya counties.
The ten officers, who arrived at Wilson airport on Tuesday evening were heavily bandaged in sharp contrast to their state while departing from Kisumu International Airport.
During their departure, one of the officers was only pictured sporting a bandage on his right hand but on arrival he had added a sling to the injured hand.
Despite boarding the police aircraft unaided, the particular officer had to be put on a stretcher on arrival at Wilson Airport.
This even as Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, while receiving the officers, urged the public not to trivialise the issue of officers being attacked by the demonstrators on Monday.
“I think we must stop trivialising injuries to these policemen who are our brothers and sisters. They are hurt and we cannot afford to trivialize people who protect us,” said Mr Kibicho.
SHOT DEAD
He added that the demonstrators were armed with weapons that they used to attack police officers.
“The injuries that we think cannot be tackled there because of their nature is the ones that we think can be handled here,” said Mr Kibicho.
During last Monday’s protests, three people were killed with two of them having been shot.
The protests was the latest organized by Cord to compel the electoral commission out of office.
Police spokesman Charles Owino on Tuesday said protesters should know that police offices are also human beings and have a responsibility to protect themselves too.
“Don’t be lied to that those guns do not have live bullets. Yes, we will use rubber bullets as we used and they got finished and you are almost killing our officers but at the end of the day, that gun must be protected, fifty of them may have rubber bullets but one or two will have live ammunition,” said Mr Owino.
