Nairobi Central Police Station OCS and profiled prime murder suspect in Ojwang’s killing Talam arrested in Eldoret
This brings to three the number of suspects nabbed over the incident that has drawn a lot of public outcry
The Nairobi Central Police Station Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Samson Talam has been arrested in Eldoret after a day-long operation in connection to the morbid killing of 31 years old teacher Albert Ojwang while in custody.
This brings to three the number of suspects nabbed over the incident that has drawn a lot of public outcry.
While addressing a media briefing today, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) Commissioner Boniface Samati confirmed that the station commander turned into a prime murder suspect has been arrested by the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) in the ongoing probe into the murder of 31 years old teacher Albert Ojwang.
Samati explained that Taalam was handed over to IPOA and will be key in assisting the ongoing investigations.
He added that the independent body had recorded statements from more witnesses, including other suspects locked in the cells at the station on that fateful night.
This, he said, will piece together the events that occurred during Ojwang’s murder while in police custody.
“We have not completed our investigations and we are only providing the status update. We are not ruling out at this stage to say there are people we have absolved or not, the issue of high-ranking officers and shifting blame, we are taking it step by step. We are building a case,” Samati pointed out.
“We have more witnesses to talk to, and we have chances of arresting more suspects. From the record, we are aware that the deceased was booked in when he was well and he was booked out when he was taken to Mbagathi,” he added.
While proving the status update, the Commissioner revealed that IPOA had documented the scene, collected blood samples and forwarded them to the government chemist.
Further, they had obtained the CCTV Digital Video Recorders (DVR) in an attempt to recover the footage.
According to Samati, three arrests have been made so far: Talaam, police constable James Mukhwana of Central Police Station and the technician who allegedly dismantled the CCTV footage.
Ojwang had been arrested at his home in Homa Bay over allegations of publishing false information. He was transferred to Nairobi, where he was booked at Central Police Station.
He later died after reportedly being severely beaten while in custody.
Ojwang’s death has sparked public outrage and renewed scrutiny on police conduct. So far, two other police officers and a technician accused of tampering with surveillance footage have been detained.
