Police abduct Gachagua party's lobbyist in night raid

Suspected police officers on Monday night arrested a Limuru grassroots politician and took him to an unknown destination.

The officers in several Subaru cars and a Toyota Prado raided Peter Kinyanjui's rental house at around 9pm, causing panic in the densely populated area.

The plainclothes officers broke into Kinyanjui's house on the third floor after his wife refused to open the door, demanding to know their identity.

“The men carrying metal bars, guns ransacked the house. They threw my child on the floor as they turned the house upside down. My child cowered under the blankets. They asked me where Kinyanjui was and before I could answer one of them slapped me, by this time Kinyanjui was not in the house,” said Catherine Wambui.

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The commotion attracted neighbours as Kinyanjui's mother also arrived and confronted the police. Kinyanjui, who has styled himself as the Kiambu youth leader for Rigathi Gachagua's party, then emerged from hiding.

When the crowd surged, the police called for reinforcement as they fired in the air.

On Tuesday, Kinyanjui's mother and his wife went to the Limuru Police Station to inquire about his whereabouts.

“We ask the government to produce my husband at the earliest available opportunity in a court of law. I beseech them not to harm him. Police forcing me and my mother-in-law to lie on wet grass was so inhuman,” said Wambui.

Kinyanjui's mother claimed her son was arrested for shouting "one term", a political slogan aimed at President William Ruto. 

“The young men, young to be my sons, calling me unprintable names, slapping me and pushing me about, is an act we see in movies. Also, tossing a sleeping child on the floor in the pretense of looking for Kinyanjui is immoral,” Wanjiru said.

Kinyanju's abduction came at a time when another young man from Kinoo, Ndiangui Kinyagia, is still missing after people suspected to be police men abducted him.