Burning of post won’t affect probe, say police

The torching of the Syokimau Administration Police camp on Wednesday will have little or no effect on investigations into the murder of lawyer Willie Kimani and two others, police said.

Demonstrators, mainly boda boda riders, set the container on fire on Wednesday in protest at the gruesome murders.

The post, built by the Syokimau Residents’ Association, was not gazetted and did not have the facilities of a proper police station.

National Police Service Spokesman George Kinoti on Thursday said the three were not formally booked and there are no records.

“This is where the issue of unlawful detention comes in. If it is proven they were detained at the post, the officers will be guilty of unlawful detention,” said Mr Kinoti.

He said gazetted police stations have Occurrence Books and are designed to hold people under certain conditions.

“The cell, said to be part of a cargo container, did not qualify to hold people for long. It is meant to detain suspects for a few minutes before they are transferred to a gazetted police station,” he said.

Officers at the post claimed nobody had occupied the cubicle used as a cell.

Meanwhile, detectives are looking for Mavoko MP Patrick Makau and his aide in connection with the fire at the post.

Mr Makau and his aide are suspected to have gone into hiding as police failed to trace them overnight on Wednesday.

The hunt continued Thursday but police appeared to have lost the trail as the MP’s phone was off and could not be tracked.

The police were acting on reports that the plot to raid the camp and set the container ablaze was hatched the night before.