Ipoa opens probe after police officer kills man

A 20-year-old man was Saturday shot and killed by a police officer attached to Majira police post in Maara sub-county, Tharaka Nithi.

Brian Munene from Majira village had been working at the police post, serving a non-custodial sentence.

He was shot in the head under unclear circumstances at around noon on Saturday.

Though police declined to address the media on the matter, Chogoria police station commander Boniface Kiilu assured residents who stormed the police post in protest that investigations had been launched.

Mr Kiilu said officers from the criminal investigations department and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) were looking into the incident.

“The Ipoa and DCI officers arrived at the scene before the body was collected and will definitely investigate and reveal the truth on what exactly happened,” he said.

Residents protest

Unconfirmed reports say the police officer claimed Munene threatened to attack him with a machete that he was using to cut grass.

In protest, members of the public barricaded Meru-Chogoria road with logs and hurled stones at police officers demanding that the body remain at the scene until the officer involved was shown to them.

Police lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the charging crowd in order to collect the body and take it to Chuka County Referral Hospital mortuary.

Chogoria MCA Margaret Gitari said the police officer must have intended to kill Munene.

“It’s very clear that the intention of the officer was to kill the young man. That is why he shot him in the head,” Ms Gitari said, but urged the public, who threatened to burn the police post, to keep calm and await the outcome of the investigation.

She asked Ipoa to carry out a proper probe and ensure the officer faces murder charges, bu

Munene’s family members called on the government to ensure justice, saying he had complied with all the requirements of his non-custodial sentence.

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