A section of leaders and residents of Garissa County on Wednesday stormed the Garissa Police Station demanding to know the whereabouts of four people who were allegedly abducted by the police.
According to the residents, at least four people have been abducted in the last two days, with three of them still missing while one person was found seriously injured and dumped at nearing Madogo town in Tana River County.
The four are Mohamed Buya Shangalow, Mohamed Hussein Ibrahim, Idle Farah and Osman Yussuf who has been missing for four months now. They were all abducted in the last two weeks on different dates.
Led by a group of MCAs who included Abdirahman Borr, Garissa Township counterpart Hussein Dagane, Idriss Ismail (Danyere), Ahmed Noor (Dekaharja) and Abdi Weli (Saka), they took issue with the recent incidents giving the government 24 hours to produce the four men failure to which they threatened to hold massive demonstrations.
Borr said that people were being abducted day and night and yet nobody is coming out to explain their whereabouts.
Borr wondered how people can be abducted in a broad day light and go through several police barriers and yet police still claim that they are not aware of their whereabouts.
“This trend where our people are picked from their homes one by one by police officers and taken to an unknown destination then tortured only to be killed later is very saddening. All we want right now are answers and our people produced alive,” he said.
Borr said that it was regrettable that abductions and enforced disappearance continue to happen in the country despite assurance by the government that such things will never happen again.
“This is a government that campaigned on the platform that it will protect the rights and the people especially the marginalized people. President Ruto has been on the forefront assuring the country that these things will never happen under his administration. Infact he repeated the same message while in Mombasa. But unfortunately it still continues to happen,” he said.
On his part Garissa Township MCA Hussein Dagane said that every kenyan has a right to be protected whether a suspect or not calling for the police to immediately produce the missing men.
He said that the incidences had caused a lot of anxiety and stress to the families and residents noting that such incidences were counter productive in the fight against insecurity in the area.
“We are giving the police 24 hours to produce all the missing persons. It is ironical that the same police are telling us that the missing persons are not in their cells while eye witnesses have clearly told us that the car that kidnapped then is right here at the station. It is good that we are told the truth,” he said.
He added: “In the meantime I would like my brothers to remain calm during this tragedy since we have not heard any death of our four missing brothers. The government should investigate this matter keenly as it may lead to inter clan disputes here.
Garissa Town Sub-County Police Commander Edward Imbwaga, while responding to the issues raised, urged members of the public and the families of those abducted to record statements with the police for them to commence investigations.
“We are asking members of the public to bring any information regarding the said abductions to us so that we may start investigations. We will speak with the one that has been released so that we find out who took him and where he was taken and we want you to be patient as we carry out our investigations,” Imbwaga said.
“Police follow certain procedures when making arrests. Any police officer from other regions or counties coming to make arrests here must pass through the office of the OCS, OCPD, county commander or the regional commander,” he added.
