Dreaded CID official shot dead

One of the most ruthless undercover police officers of his time, feared by criminals and colleagues alike, was Saturday shot dead in Kitui County.

Mr Zebedeyo Maina was the head of criminal investigations there, having been appointed to the position after serving years as commander of one of the most dreaded hit squads in his heydays, the Eagle squad.

Initial reports said he was shot dead while in pursuit of a gang that kidnapped a child in Ruai, in the outskirts of Nairobi.

“All I know is that we were following this child and the signal was indicating the abductors were in those areas (Kitui). Am also informed the child was rescued and there was a shooting incident. Am yet to receive full information,” said Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo.

An officer who sought anonymity said Mr Maina was receiving directions from Nairobi before the shooting.

Mr Maina was named in a confidential report as the man who shot the first bullet into the head of most wanted criminal Simon Matheri Ikere in February 2007.

He then invited his juniors to take turns at pumping more bullets into Matheri’s body.

Unlike his colleagues who earned promotions through attending refresher courses at police training college in kiganjo, Maina was promoted for hunting down criminals and executing them.

At the time of his death he was a Chief Inspector of Police.

In 2007, when the government sanctioned a secret undertaking, Operation Ondoa Kwekwe, to get rid of Mungiki menace, Maina was the obvious choice and his squad, code named Eagle, was responsible for most of deaths and enforced disappearances.

His codename then was Eagle 1.

One of the officers attached to Eagle, Mr Bernard Kirinya, was shot dead in broad daylight outside Sarit Centre in Westlands, after he deserted the squad and shared its secrets with Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

In the confession captured on video, Mr Kirinya says he witnessed 58 people being shot, strangled or bludgeoned to death by his colleagues, headed by Maina.

Another feather on his hat, though the kind not to be envied, is the disappearance of Mungiki coordinator Kimani Ruo, moments after he was freed by the court of criminal charges.

Mr Kirinya claimed in the video that Maina’s team abducted him, took him to a secluded farm in Ruiru, strangled him and cut his body into pieces.

Many other incidents abound including the killing of a patient at a government hospital in Makindu, moments after he survived a police shooting.