IPOA Demands Identity of Masked Officers, Substance Used In Dispersing Demonstrators.
IPOA Demands Identity of Masked Officers, Substance Used In Dispersing Demonstrators: The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has demanded that police commanders reveal the identities of masked police officers seen operating in Nairobi.
IPOA Commissioner John Waiganjo has raised alarm over the conduct of police officers who are failing to display their identification tags and service numbers.
He stated,”The police are clearly breaking the law because it is clear that their officers, even those in uniform, are not displaying their known tags and their service numbers. Those in civilian clothing are putting on hoodies and you cannot tell who they are. As an authority, we are suspecting there is a unit being sent out there apart from the now ordinary deployment to go and commit atrocities.”
“If we do not know where the platoons are coming from and we do not know their names, numbers, and arms register, then it is sabotage. We have witnessed the tooling of the officers, the substance they are using. We know they are not prepared, they are using live bullets, and the substance they are using instead of the water cannon. We have asked to be provided for investigation,” he added.
Waiganjo expressed frustration with the lack of cooperation from police commanders, which hinders IPOA’s efforts to ensure police accountability.
“That is why we are calling out Adamson Bungei and the acting Inspector General of Police to give information, or we are going to petition the court to issue a warrant for their arrest because they carry the biggest responsibility. We need to have deployment schedules and arms registers, and we need to know where those arms are and in whose hands.”