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In 2018, just in a month, we lost four Nigerians to extrajudicial killings in Kenya.”
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Nigerians in Kenya have raised the alarm over targeted killings and police brutality.
They also accused the government of Kenya of being behind the enforced disappearances of Nigerian nationals, adding that in one month, four Nigerians disappeared without a trace. And last month, July, a Nigerian went missing without any trace, they said.
A Nigerian who spoke with our correspondent on Wednesday from Kenya described the condition Nigerians in the country are subjected to by Kenya police as unimaginable.
She asked President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to intervene before it gets too late.
“I feel the Federal Government should weigh into this matter to save the lives of young Nigerians who are regularly brutalised and killed by the Kenyan police,” he said.
“I am presently in Nairobi, Kenya. On one of my visits to the Nigeria High Commission, I met a young Nigerian who drew my attention to the atrocities committed against Nigerians in Kenya. I did a little digging and noticed that the case is quite pathetic.
“The victim who is in hiding for his dear life has contacted the Ministry of Foreign affairs back home. Nothing was done until recently when we heard that steps were being taken on the matter.
“The killing of Nigerians in Kenya, based on my records, didn’t start today. In 2018, just in a month, we lost four Nigerians to extrajudicial killings in Kenya.”
The source further noted that the situation has become a regular occurrence, adding, “Last month, there was an enforced disappearance of a Nigerian promising young man. I strongly believe that the Kenya Police is behind these atrocities and a thorough investigation must be done to fish out the officers involved.
“I’ve told them and I repeat again, enforced disappearance is an international crime against humanity. No one should be made to disappear. Everyone has a right to life or be charged in a court of law if suspected of an offence.
“I’ve written to Abuja again yesterday requesting that the toxic marriage between Nigeria and Kenya be put to an end with immediate effect.
“What we have is unilateral relation and not bilateral. We, Nigerians are the ones being subjected to this inhuman treatment.
“It shouldn’t continue. In short, we don’t need to wait until this impotent administration is over. I’m losing my sanity!
“Nobody can be kidnapped in the Industrial Area of Nairobi. It is absolutely impossible. The Kenyan police must be held accountable for the incident that occurred there. They should produce the corpse of the Nigerian they have killed for coroner’s inquest.”
The source said officials of the Nigerian High Commission in the East African country may not have experienced the same treatment meted out to other Nigerians in the country, probably because of their diplomatic status.
“Recently a friend visited Nairobi from Nigeria to tour the Safari. His name is Julius Adegoke. He also informed me of a horrific experience he had with the Kenyan police as soon as he lodged in his hotel. He was badly shaken that we had to go pick him up,” the source said.
“I wonder why the Nigerian High Commission is not doing much. Please help these Nigerians.”
The source noted that she had to encourage him to report to the relevant authorities as soon as he got home. “I understand it’s a regular occurrence as soon as Nigerians come in here.”
Meanwhile, Adegoke who is already back in Nigeria, described his experience in the hands of Kenyan police as horrible, which he said can best be described as xenophobia.
Narrating his experience in a telephone interview, on Wednesday, he said, “I travelled to Kenya on the 18th of August 2022, and landed at Jomo Kenyatta Airport at about 4 am on the 19th of August 2022. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the hotel I had booked for the reservation.
“So, a cab person arranged for another hotel for me. Later that night, I was accosted by policemen, saying they had an Intel that I was a foreigner and that they would search my room.
“They searched my phone and all my belongings. They turned my hotel room upside down; I thought I was being robbed. Afterwards, they said we should go to the police station and when we got downstairs, they said I was clean and could go. But later in the day, when I boarded another Uber, I was told that is how the cab men do in Kenya, that they report tourists to the police so they can extort them and share the proceeds of the crime.”
Another Nigerian, who gave his name as Anthony Mombasa, a student in one of Kenya’s universities, described the level of contempt with which the Kenyan police treat Nigerians as absurd.
Mombasa said he suffered similar brutality on March 19, 2022, when four Kenyan policemen invaded the house.
He narrated, “On the 19th of March, 2022, my house was invaded by four Kenya police officers. My iron door was pulled down using a machine; I was beaten to a coma. My house was not just searched without a search warrant, I was also robbed. The sum of $550 meant for school fees was taken, a brand new iPhone 12 Pro Max with its carton and receipt, and my passports (an expired one and a valid one) were taken away.
“I was given back my expired Nigerian passport while to date the valid passport is still with the police officers. I was stripped half naked, and pushed inside the boot of a private car (not a police van). Upon arrival at the police station in Bamburi, I was put under duress to communicate to my family back home to send money or I would be castrated.
“The major allegation according to them was that ‘Nigerians take Kenyan women.’ The sum of 22,000 Kenyan Shillings was taken from me via MPESA at the station.
“I reported this very incident to the authorities in Kenya that investigate police brutality known as the Independent Policing Oversight Authority but it was swept under the carpet as usual to date.
“I travelled to the Nigerian High Commission, only to be told that neither the High Commissioner, Head of Chancery nor Consular was on sit. After several hours, I resolved to go naked inside the High Commission as a form of protest on the 24th of March, 2022. This was the action that forced the Consular, Head of Mission and some other staff members of the High Commission to come out. I was assured that the High Commission was going to swing into action immediately. But unfortunately, to date, no action has been taken.
“I followed up with the Nigerian High Commission but I was told that even the Nigerian diplomats in Kenya are also being harassed and the High Commission is totally limited to act as they must follow a diplomatic channel from Abuja.
“In short, the High Commission made it clear that the Nigerian Government’s weakness and ineptitude are the reasons why Nigerians are being harassed in Kenya, right from the airport to their bed and all over the world.”
He further stated, “On the 11th of June, 2022, the Kenyan police tracked me on my way to the mall just two days after I left the Nigerian High Commission as a follow-up to my passport that was seized. I was kidnapped by a police officer called Diba of Mtwapa Police Station.
“My phones were seized the moment I sought to verify the identities of the men who claimed to be police officers since they did not wear uniforms and were not willing to show their identity cards as police officers.
“I was forced into their car at gunpoint. They seized my residence permit immediately in addition to the passport that was already in their possession.
“I obediently entered the car. On getting to the police station at Mtwapa, Kilifi County, I was put inside a cell. I pleaded to be allowed to speak to a lawyer or at least my landlady but I was told that I would not be allowed to communicate with anyone again.
“I was detained for two days. On the first day in a cell, a kind police officer confidentially asked me to write down my home address, and she secretly sent someone to inform my landlady. With that help, my whereabouts became known to my landlady who visited the police station and was told that the charge against me was that I was in Kenya illegally. She got my documents to prove them wrong but her efforts were aborted by the adamant police officers.
“On the 13th of June, the landlady brought a lawyer who requested that I should be charged to court accordingly instead of being detained unlawfully. When the police officers realised that I was innocent, I was granted a bail of $300, to be paid in cash.
“A few days later, I was asked to return to the police station, and on getting there, the officer handling my case made it clear to me that no Nigerian fights Kenyan police and goes back alive. And he made it clear that further attempts to pursue the case would lead to my death.”
“I went to the Nigerian High Commission on Tuesday, 21st of June, 2022 and I was told by one Mr. Edet that all the High Commission would do was to issue me emergency travel documents to return home and nothing else could be done regarding the assault I suffered and my missing documents and property.
“I have made some distress videos which I sent to the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which I believe is in circulation but I have not received any response so far.
“Please permit me to say that the Kenyan authorities are aware of the attacks on Nigerians in Kenya. They sponsor and mastermind the attacks. They have always capitalised on the unfortunate South African xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in the past.
“And the fact that they keep telling us that they know our government in and out, maintaining that the Nigerian government they know does not have any regard for the lives of its citizens and can never choose the lives of the citizens over its bilateral deals with Kenya.
“One of the police officers, David Mungai called me via this number 254 (0) 721 404078 and reiterated his determination to ‘deal’ with me further.
“In 2018, a fellow Nigerian, Mr. Bamiyo Ashade, was killed by Kenyan police officers and the only justice he got was an autopsy. Since then, the terrorists among the Kenyan police have devised a smarter way to kill Nigerians in a clandestine manner.
“They will always seize the phones, whisk away the victims, and have them killed without any trace or evidence. Many Nigerians are missing in Kenya and unfortunately and sadly, many have been killed while their families back home remain hopeful that they will see the return of their dead children. Also, many Nigerians are in Kenyan cells and prisons for months, and years yet without trials. Sadly, nobody knows the whereabouts of these fellow Nigerians.
“The issues are endless and cannot be exhausted here.
“Many Nigerians here in Kenya have lost hope, not only in the Nigerian High Commission in Nairobi but the government as well.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian High Commission to Kenya has declared a Nigerian, Mr. Kingsley Okechukwu Iloanya missing. According to the commission, Iloanya was abducted by armed men around 8 pm on July 26, 2022, in the Industrial Area of Nairobi.
The Commission in a notice declaring Iloanya missing which was published on its website, said: “He is 34 years old, about 5.8 feet tall, brown in complexion, with broad shoulders and was last seen wearing a dark green jacket with a white vest on the day of his abduction”.
“MR. Iloanya was abducted from a vehicle while in traffic and has not been heard from since the day of his abduction.
“The High Commission kindly requests anyone with information on his whereabouts to reach out to the Nigeria High Commission on 0202633941 or Mr. Damian lloanya on 0742995420.”
