LSK President Faith Odhiambo at a past function. LSK has demanded arrest of the officer in company with the officer who shot the mask vendor during protests on Tuesday. Photo: LSK X.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo has demanded the arrest of officer who was in company when Boniface Kariuki was shot at Moi Avenue during Tuesday protests.
In the viral video, the two anti-riot masked officers were seen cornering Kariuki, a mask vendor who was selling masks to protesters, who raffled him up before shooting him on the head, as the protesters demanded justice for X blogger Albert Ojwang’ who died in the hands of the police at Central Police Station.
In during an interview on Wednesday, condemning the barbaric act by the officer, Odhiambo argued that the officer should also be charged, as he took part in the assault of the unarmed mask vendor.
“It’s not just the shooter, his colleague was also right there and he is an accessory because you see them pushing the victim and then running away together. They are part and parcel and they must be held accountable,” she argued.
Despite the National Police Service (NPS) releasing a statement on Tuesday evening of the officer being arrested and will charged, she stated that she is waiting for the service to release the names of the two officers, as Kenyans had unmasked them online.
“I’m waiting to see the statement where they name that particular police officer. Members of the public have already identified him, and his family, and are already calling him out,” she noted.
Kariuki was shot at close range blank point by an officer in Nairobi during protests, he is currently at the Kenyatta National teaching and Referral Hospital receiving treatment. In a statement on Wednesday, the surgeon attending to him said the bullet was removed from his left side of the head, but still in a critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit.
Leaders have continued to condemn police brutality currently being witnessed in the country, with the shooting of Kariuki contradicting earlier remarks by NPS to ensure police brutality comes to an end in the country.
