Wycliffe Nyamasege
A section of Rioma Police Station in Kisii County was on Sunday set ablaze by residents who were protesting the killing of a local businessman by a police officer.
It’s alleged that the cop attached to the police post shot and killed the resident following a disagreement over a sanitizer.
The police reportedly accused the man, who was selling homemade sanitizers, of disobeying Covid-19 guidelines leading to an argument.
UPDATE: Earlier today, angry residents of Kitutu Chache North set on fire a section of Rioma Police station in Rioma, Kisii county after a rogue police officer shot dead a resident at Rioma Market. @IG_NPS over to you. #ExtrajudicialKillings pic.twitter.com/7LdEPa3fEG
— #InsecurityKE (@InsecurityKE) July 5, 2020
This comes just days after similar protests in Nandi county after a police officer shot and killed a cobbler for allegedly not wearing a face mask.
Riots that ensued afterwards led to the killing of two other people by police.
Following the last month incident, Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai ordered interdiction and arrest of the officer involved in the fatal shooting.
“We have informed the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IP0A) for action as stipulated in law. We commit to take stern disciplinary action against any other officer found culpable, ” the IG said in a statement.
IPOA announced that it had launched a probe into the incident.
“…IPOA dispatched its Rapid Response Investigation team, which is already at the scene and has initiated investigations into the matter with a view of establishing how the shooting happened and if the force used was necessary,” read a statement by IPOA Chairperson Anne Makori.
“On conclusion of its investigations, the Authority will make appropriate recommendations if culpability is established. IPOA supports officers who undertake their work professionally but will not hesitate to take action, in accordance with its mandate, on the few who are found to break the same laws they are supposed to enforce.”
Cases of police brutality have been on the rise especially during the Coronavirus pandemic as police implement guidelines issued by the government to curb the spread of the virus.
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