Police deny shooting to death seven-year-old boy in Nairobi
Geoffrey Mutinda who was shot dead in Pipeline estate, Nairobi on November 28, 2017. Nairobi County Police Commander Japhet Koome says the boy was possibly shot by criminals, distancing the police from the killing. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Koome said, there is no police camp in Embakasi area known as Tassia AP Camp as reported by a section of the media.
- He said that police are investigating the shooting and that he was optimistic that those culpable would be brought to book.
- He said police were more than five kilometres away from where Mutinda was shot.
The National Police Service has distanced itself from the shooting to death of a seven-year-old boy in Pipeline, Nairobi on Tuesday.
Nairobi County Police Commander Japhet Koome, in a statement sent to newsrooms, said there was a possibility that the child – Geoffrey Mutinda – was shot by criminals.
Mr Koome said, there is no police camp in Embakasi area known as Tassia AP Camp as reported by a section of the media.
“Besides, there were no active police operations in Kware area yesterday,” Mr Koome said.
However, he said that police are investigating the “unfortunate incident of shooting”, and that he was optimistic that those culpable would be brought to book.
5KM AWAY
He added that the police operation was only on Jacaranda Grounds on Manyanja Road and in Donholm, which he said were more than five kilometres away from where Mutinda was shot.
Residents of the Pipeline estate have insisted that they can identify the man who shot Mutinda as a well-known police officer attached to a nearby AP camp and who is usually plain-clothed.
The shooting of the boy has spurred public outrage especially because it comes just a few months after the shooting to death of another child – Stephanie Moraa Moracha – in Mathare, Nairobi and the clobbering to death of baby Samantha Pendo in Nyalenda slums in Kisumu, both allegedly by police officers.
IPOA
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said it had on Wednesday dispatched a team of detectives to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killing of the seven-year-old boy in Pipeline estate.
IPOA said it was seeking to establish whether the death of the minor was due to police action, with a view to making those responsible to “face the full force of the law”.
“Upon conclusion of the investigations, IPOA will make recommendations and forward the file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for his attention,” IPOA said in a statement signed by the head of communications, Dennis Oketch.
