Five police officers have been arraigned at Milimani Court in connection with the escape of 13 remandees from custody at the Gigiri police station.
The five include; Ronald Babo, Evans Kipkirui, Mollent Achieng, Zachary Nyabuto and Gerald Mutuku.
The officers are persons of interest in the case that involves the disappearance of 12 Eritrean nationals and Collins Jumaisi, the prime suspect in the murder of several people whose bodies were recovered in Kware, a low-income residential area in Nairobi.
They appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Nanzushi.
This comes hours after detectives reportedly arrested a woman believed to have played a role in the escape for questioning.
According to officials, the woman was picked up from the Ruaka area, Kiambu for questioning.
It is believed that after they escaped from the cells, they jumped through a fence behind the police station towards Limuru Road and headed to Ruaka.
Police reportedly found footsteps at the fence indicating the place was the exit route.
A source said the woman has been linked to human smuggling claims in the past.
The probe is being handled by multi-agency teams, which are rushing against time in efforts to rearrest the escapees.
The police investigations indicated that the CCTV camera behind the police station was not working at the time of the incident.
Police investigators have so far concluded the escape was an inside job.
This rubbished claims by police officers who were on duty the escapees used a small hole in a wire mesh forming part of the cells at the station.
Eight police officers were interdicted, police authorities said.
Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli said among those interdicted include the Gigiri Sub County Police Commander, OCS Gigiri Police Station, Duty Officer, Duty NCO, Station Guards, and Report Office Personnel.
He said the 12 Eritrean nationals were arrested for being illegally in Kenya and were waiting to be repatriated.
“Our preliminary investigations indicate that the escape was aided by insiders, considering that officers were deployed accordingly to guard the station. Consequently, I have interdicted eight officers who were on duty.” The acting IG stated.
Masengeli who visited the station was accompanied by director DCI Mohamed Amin and DIG Kenya police Eliud Lagat among other senior officers.
There were 17 suspects in custody at the time of the incident. Only four remained and have all been interrogated.
They said they did not know how the suspects escaped as they were asleep then.
