Four children being held with mothers at Nairobi's Central Police Station

Four young children are being held with their mothers at Central Police Station in Nairobi.

The mothers were arrested for allegedly harming a City County officer.

The women were arrested on Tuesday evening along Tom Mboya Street while hawking groceries, their children in tow.

They all spent Tuesday night and the whole of Wednesday behind bars.

“Our children are all under four, so we have had to rely on well-wishers to bring us diapers and milk,” said Sabina Wangari, one of the mothers.

She added that police have refused to release them until they pay Sh50,000 for harming the City County officer, an offense that they all deny.

By Wednesday evening, they were yet to be arraigned in court.

However, Central Police Station police boss David Wanjama said the women had refused to hand over their children to visiting relatives but were instead using them as a bargaining chip.

“The mothers badly injured the county officer who arrested them so they are insisting on keeping their children in the cell with them to pressure us into releasing them,” he said.

He however could not explain why they had not been taken them to court nearly 24 hours after their arrest.

According to the Constitution, a person must be charged and taken to court not later than 24 hours after being arrested.

In addition, children should not be held in custody with adults.