The deceased brother addresses reporters /COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya April 8 – The family of a man who died on Friday night after allegedly being pushed off a police truck in Nairobi’s Kilimani area is now demanding an unconditional apology and compensation from the government.
They want Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti to intervene and ensure they get justice.
The family of Fred Obado, an engineer with the Kenya Data Networks (KDN) was informed about his death by a traffic policeman who claimed he was a victim of a hit and run accident on Jabavu road.
“The officer just told us our brother had died of a hit and run accident, he has even declined to show us the scene of that accident because he only stated that it was somewhere on Jabavu road,” Steve, a brother to the deceased said.
The 28-year-old man was among dozens who had been arrested during a crackdown on Friday night and were being escorted to the Kilimani police station when the incident occurred.
He had been picked up from a bar in Highrise estate where he also left his vehicle.
“This is information we are getting from people he was with at the bar. Some of them were with him in the police truck when he was pushed out,” Steve said.
“We have every reason to believe this theory because the police are not being cooperative with us at all, they have even declined to show us the sketch of the alleged accident, they just told us to go view the body at the city mortuary,” he added.
Quoting the witnesses, the family said their kin was hit and forced out after an argument with a police officer before he landed on the tarmac.
Some witnesses have claimed he was told to alight from the moving truck after paying a bribe of Sh1, 000 to secure his release.
Police have denied all this and insist Fred was not among the people arrested during the Friday night crackdown.
His father Hezron Obado appealed to the government to expedite an investigation into the death.
On Sunday, a vehicle belonging to the deceased was still parked outside the bar where the suspects are said to have been picked up from at Highrise estate.
His brother said he had contacted KDN where his brother worked for them to collect it because it had been hired by the company for use by his brother.
It is the second incident of this nature after a family in umoja estate also demanded a probe into the alleged murder of a 21-year-old man who had also died in a commotion during a security operation in a bar.
The family of Mark Muiruri claims he was thrown from the first floor of the bar when the police stormed in to arrest patrons.
He had just graduated from the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM).
“We are told that the police stormed Gullop (bar) and in the ensuing commotion Muiruri was killed by the officers,” his mother Rebecca Michuki said.
She claims that the officers who were conducting the swoop later tried to cover up the murder of his last born son claiming he jumped from the first floor while fleeing from the officers.
“What is shocking is that the police officers seem to have thrown out Muiruri’s body from the first floor to twist facts that he died after jumping out of the bar,” she claimed adding that Police at Buru Buru police station refused to address them instead directing them to the City Mortuary.
Area residents who held a demonstration protesting the alleged murder also dismissed the police version.
“If you are to jump from this first floor, you can clearly see that you cannot die even if you weigh more than 80kgs but maybe suffer slight injuries,” said a woman who did not want to be identified for security reasons.
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