Residents mill around the scene where a boda boda rider was shot dead by a Navy soldier on Wednesday. Mtongwe residents have raised an alarm over increased cases of harassment from the Kenya Navy officers/COURTESY
MOMBASA, Kenya, Nov 20 – A 19-year-old was Wednesday morning shot dead by military guards at the Mtongwe naval base for allegedly trespassing a restricted area.
Boda boda riders in the area have in the recent past decried what they termed as incidences of harassment by the military accusing the navy of targeting them.
Leornard Komora, a well-known boda boda rider within Mtongwe area, had gone to pick a passenger near the Mtwonge Navy Estate (KD Estate) at around 6:30am.
Likoni sub-county police commander Jane Munyoki told Capital FM News that the rider had crossed the barrier leading to the Naval Base.
“A boda boda rider was shot today morning at the Navy base. He had crossed the barrier. He was asked to stop, but he proceeded,” said Munyoki.
Munyoki added: “The officer was forced to shoot at the boda boda rider to restrain him, but unfortunately he died instantly.”
Grieving family members at the scene where the 19-year-old boda boda rider was shot dead on Wednesday/COURTESY
According to boda boda riders within Mtongwe area, Komora had gone to pick a passenger near the Navy base.
“He was making a turn near the barrier when he was shot. He is not a criminal neither a drug addict,” a boda boda operator said.
The victim is said to have written his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams last year.
The body has since been moved to Coast General Provincial Hospital.
Mtongwe residents have raised an alarm over increased cases of harassment from the Kenya Navy officers.
The officers are sometimes accused of forcing residents to frog jump, do push-ups or clear bushes for trespassing restricted areas.
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