The Director of Criminal Investigation Mohamed Amin Wednesday put on the spot the Officer Commanding Station at Central police in Nairobi over the murder of teacher Albert Ojwang.
He said the OCS Samson Talam is a prime suspect in the matter.
Amin revealed Talam had declined to book Ojwang in the cells when he was called and informed he was at the report office.
“It has further been confirmed that before the booking, the report office personnel called the OCS,
that he declined to book the suspect. Talam is the officer commanding Central Police Station and from the totality of things, he should be treated as a prime suspect in the matter,” he said.
This has put the station commander in the spot in the probe.
Amin said Ojwang’ was transferred from Homa Bay to Central Police Station because the alleged offence was committed in Nairobi.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has taken over the probe into the matter.
So far 13 police officers have been grilled over the saga.
Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Nairobi called on the Kenyan government and the IPOA to ensure a swift, transparent, and thorough investigation into the killing of Ojwang, who died under controversial circumstances while in police custody.
The Embassy extended its condolences to the family of Ojwang who died in the hands of police on Sunday morning.
The Embassy noted concerns around the events of Ojwang’s death, urging for accountability through a transparent investigation.
“Noting concerns around the circumstances of Ojwang’s death, the Embassy supports calls from government, parliamentarians, and Kenyan citizens for accountability through a transparent investigation.
“The Embassy urges the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to conduct its ongoing investigation swiftly and thoroughly. We also call on the Kenyan government to ensure IPOA has the access and support needed to perform its duties,” the statement noted.
Ojwang’ was picked up in Homa Bay on Saturday afternoon by security officers who said they were probing him over a post he allegedly made on the social media platform X.
They later drove him to Nairobi and detained him at the Central Police Station.
However, when his family arrived at the police station on Sunday to follow up on the case, they were informed he was dead, and told his body had been taken to City Mortuary.
The officers at Central Police Station told Opiyo, Albert’s father, that his son died in hospital from self-inflicted injuries after hitting himself against the wall.
Police initially claimed that preliminary investigations showed that Albert, who was booked in for the offence of false publication, sustained head injuries “by hitting his head severally against the wall inside the cell.”
An autopsy on his body, however, revealed that Albert was assaulted and suffered multiple body injuries.
Government pathologist Bernard Midia on Tuesday pronounced that “When we examined… the pattern of the injury, especially on the trauma I found on the head…. Hitting against a blunt substance like a wall would have a pattern.”
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