Massive Arrests: 300+ Detained as Azimio Protests Erupt!
According to Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, more than 300 individuals were arrested at the initial Azimio protests on Wednesday evening.
Prof Kindiki stated in a statement that the majority of the country had remained calm and serene.
“More than 300 people have been arrested across the country and will face charges ranging from looting to malicious damage to property, arson, robbery with violence, and assaulting law enforcement officers,” Prof Kindiki added.
The senior officials arrested yesterday were Mr. Babu Owino (Embakasi East MP), Mr. Ken Chonga (Kilifi South MP), Mr. Teddy Mwambire (Kilifi Assembly Speaker), Mr. Dennis Onyango (Raila’s spokesman), and Mr Maurice Ogeta (Raila’s bodyguard), according to the Raila Odinga-led Azimio alliance.
Prof Kindiki stated that the protests were limited to a few locations. Prof Kindiki commented on the planned protests on the second day, which Azimio said would start in the morning and end at 5 p.m.: “The security agencies remain alert throughout and will increase operational capabilities tomorrow [today] and in the days ahead, to ensure that normalcy is maintained and the country does not slide into anarchy.”
Police utilized undercover measures and aerial surveillance yesterday to prevent rallies and crowd building at the start of the opposition’s three-day protests, which left five people dead, scores injured, and others jailed across the country.
According to ‘GossipA2Z,’ officers were given specific orders to avoid being overrun by demonstrators. This was to be accomplished by sending a large number of plain-clothes officers to blend in with the throng and make as many arrests as possible, according to sources.
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Those seen by ‘Nation’ in Nairobi were riding in Subarus and police cars, some with balaclavas covering their faces to disguise their identity.
Security was beefed up around the CBD, with several police and National Youth Service (NYS) officers taking up strategic positions across the city, while those in plainclothes roamed around in vehicles, making arrests as most businesses stayed closed throughout the day.
Hundreds of demonstrators armed with stones and slingshots and screaming pro-Azimio chants assembled at 8 a.m. along Joseph Kaniethe Road in Woodley, Kibera, and were dispersed by police in full riot gear, tear gas canisters, and water cannons.
Anti-riot police cordoned off Kamukunji and Jacaranda grounds, two of the chosen places for the Azimio leader’s pre-protest gathering, and barred teenagers from entering.
Officers engaged the teenagers in running skirmishes in Kamukunji, while officers in civilian clothes drove to the Jacaranda site to prevent a throng from developing after protesters overwhelmed the officers who had been there earlier.
In Kibera, highly armed anti-riot police engaged in a cat-and-mouse chase with adolescent demonstrators using stones and tear gas canisters before escaping to their homes and later reuniting to discover two water cannon trucks and two lorries full of anti-riot police waiting.
The police eventually drove the demonstrators deep into the informal neighborhood. Private security guards occupied the home of former first lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta after the government removed its security detail on Monday evening. However, the cops were reassigned later that evening.
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From 5 a.m. in Kajiado, police personnel were deployed on the streets of Kitengela town.
Two demonstrators were killed in Nakuru, one in the Soko Mjinga neighborhood of Nakuru West and the other in the Stima region of Nakuru West sub-county. One of the victims was shot in the head, and the bullet exited through the back of his neck.
Three more are being treated at Nakuru Level Five Hospital for gunshot wounds. During the protests, more than ten people were arrested. demonstrators attempted to vandalize a hotel owned by Nakuru West MP Samuel Arama, prompting the MP to emerge with a weapon to disperse the demonstrators.
The Bangladesh slums in Jomvu constituency in Mombasa County have been declared a red zone, with a large deployment of police and General Service Unit (GSU) troops deployed to quell the protests.
Motorists approaching Mombasa Island were subjected to extensive security checks yesterday to prevent local leaders from accessing the CBD, where they planned to commence the protests.
Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga and Speaker Teddy Mwambire were arrested in Mtwapa during anti-government protests. There were no protests in the counties of Kwale, Lamu, Taita-Taveta, or Tana River.
There was a day of running fights between police and protestors in the Nyanza area as inhabitants of Kisumu, Kisii, Siaya, Migori, and Homa Bay responded to Mr Odinga’s demand to launch three days of rallies.
In Kisumu, the fire burned Jua Kali shanties in the Kamas district when police fired teargas canisters at protestors hiding in garages. Some shops were destroyed by fire after a tear gas canister detonated.
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Protesters used stones and burning tires to block all highways leading into the city. In contrast to earlier rallies, police officers and prison service colleagues were able to prevent demonstrators from entering the town center of Homa Bay.
The police in Siaya stood by and watched the protests. Youths who showed out for the early demonstrations barricaded roads and ignited bonfires, leaving the Siaya-Kisumu, Siaya-Nyadorera, and Siaya-Ugunja motorways empty as motorists stayed off the roads.
Apart from a failed attempt to stage demonstrations in Kitale town, Trans Nzoia County, most counties in the North Rift were peaceful and serene.
Massive Arrests: 300+ Detained as Azimio Protests Erupt!
