The CID officers accused of shooting dead two people at Soko Ng’ombe in the outskirts of Garissa town on Saturday failed to appear in Court on Monday as expected.
The Garissa Law Court’s compound was jammed as early as 8 am with family members, relatives, friends and curious onlookers who wanted to have a glimpse of the suspects.
The killings sparked demonstrations for better part of Saturday and Sunday with several shops being looted by goons who took advantage of the melee.
Aden Abdi Madobe and Muhiyadin Adow Shibin were shot and killed on the spot by the CID officers who were dispersing a crowd that was protesting the arrest of a murder suspect.
According to a senior officer involved in the investigation who spoke to KNA on condition of anonymity, security concerns may delay the arraigning of suspects in court.
The officer was however quick to assure the family of the victims that justice will be delivered.
“We are concerned about the security of the suspects, court officials, including the magistrate who will handle the case. We are weighing several options that may include charging them outside Garissa,” the officer said.
“Spent cartridges collected at the scene have already been sent to Nairobi for ballistic investigations. Together with the postmortem report will form the basis of the charges,” he added.
Meanwhile, the North Eastern Regional Commissioner, Nicodemus Ndalana met the family and community members of the deceased family where he assured them thorough investigation will be carried out on the matter to ensure justice is served to all concerned parties.
“The matter is being handled by several investigative arms of the government, including IPOA. I want to assure you that you will get justice,” Ndalana said.
The regional commissioner appealed to the families and the general public to remain calm to enable the investigative agencies to do their job.
The Garissa women representative, Anab Subow who was among those who attended the meeting said that the residents and Kenyans at large were keenly following the case.
“As leaders from the area, we are demanding nothing short of justice to the victim. Remember justice delayed is justice denied, ” Anab said.
“Even as we continue to condemn the unfortunate incident, we want to see the officers prosecuted. We want to caution against any attempt to cover up the incident,” she added.
Anab who comes from the same clan with the two slain men regretted that their lives were cut short by police officers who are supposed to protect them together with their properties.
The clan’s Sultan Harun Khalif who also attended the meeting said that going forward they would meet with the aim of pulling resources together that will be channeled to the family members of the two deceased men.
By Jacob Songok
