The civilian oversight body against police, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched murder probe of two brothers who lost their lives at the hands of police officers from Manyatta Police Station in Embu County.
Benson Njiru Ndwiga and Emmanuel Mutura Ndwiga had been arrested for allegedly flouting curfew hours and later found dead under unclear circumstances.
In a statement, IPOA said that it has this morning deployed investigators from its Nairobi headquarters to beef up their Meru Rapid Investigations counterparts who launched their investigations yesterday.
“Upon conclusion of the investigations and pursuant to Section 6(a) of the IPOA Act, the Authority will make recommendations, including prosecution if criminal culpability is established on the part of the police officers involved,” stated the oversight body.
The authority has also discouraged members of the public from taking the law into their hands by attacking the police and damaging public property as was illustrated yesterday.
In this regard, IPOA has called for public calmness and restraint as it undertakes thorough investigations into the matter.
“IPOA handles all complaints lodged with utmost confidentiality while ensuring its processes are fair, independent and impartial,” stated the authority.
The two brothers were arrested at Kianjokoma, about 1km from their residence on allegations of violating curfew regulations but their bodies were later found dumped at Kibugu Trading Centre, more than 30km from the scene.
According to the family, the two had not been seen since Sunday and they reported the matter at Manyatta police station however, they refused to help.
“We then decided to report the matter at Runyenjes Police Station where a detective informed us they had collected two bodies,” said Felix Njagi, their uncle.
However, Embu East sub-county Police Commander Emily Garuiya defended the officers, claiming the victims could have jumped out of the moving police vehicle.
“While the suspects were being escorted to Manyatta Police Station the two jumped
from a fast moving vehicle without the knowledge of police officers only to realise
when they were counting the suspects,” she said.
She added that when her officers went back they found the bodies of the deceased on the road and they were collected and taken to the mortuary.
According to Thiga, the deceased were selling pig’s meat at Kianjokoma trading centre when they were arrested.
He added that when they found them at the mortuary, they had no phones or money in their pockets,stating that one of them had about Sh10,000 from the day’s sales when they were arrested.
Garuiya said that investigations had been launched to establish what happened adding that a post-mortem examination will also be conducted.