A man is seeking justice after it emerged that his son had died at the much hyped Nai Fest event held last month. Geoffrey Gikonyo’s search for his missing son, popularly known as ‘Shanty” was concluded when they found him at the city Mortuary.
17 year old Shanty’s body had been battered, with visible injuries on the head. It was evident that he had died a painful death.
“His body seemed okay from the neck down, but his head had a lot of injuries. It felt mushy when I touched it and one of his eyes had been perforated.I know my son died in a lot of pain.” Gikonyo said.
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According to Gikonyo, the mortuary workers said Shanty’s body ended up there after he was beaten up.
“They told us that Shanty was beaten up by unknown people at the event, Nai Fest, held at Ngong Racecourse,” Gikonyo recounted.
A post-morterm also showed that Shanty had died of head injuries. Gikonyo said his son had demonstrated responsibility before, and would sometimes go out with friends and come back home. He said that together with his wife, they granted their son permission to attend the event which was held on Nov 7. Unfortunately, that was the last time they saw their son alive.
Gikonyo got concerned after his son failed to turn up after two nights, something he had never done before.
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The Nai Fest event is an event meant for adults and should ordinarily admit over 18s. However, it is still not clear how Shanty gained access.Other attendees claim the event organizers knowingly admitted teenagers as they did not ask for any Identification or proof of age.
“The event was filled with teenagers. People were being attacked and molested.
“There weren’t any police officers at the gate,” Dennis Mbugua, who attended the event between told the Saturday Standard.
After the event, reports on social media pointed to a poorly organized concert marred with security issues, violence, drug use, disregard for Covid-19 measures and a dissatisfied crowd. Attendees also corroborated Mbugua’s claims saying alcohol was sold to teenagers.
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The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has already interogated some witnesses, some of who have confirmed that Shanty was at the event.
A witness by the name, Maria Njeri, said she saw Shanty being beaten during the event and later stumbled on his battered body as she was leaving the venue.
“Around 8.30 pm, bouncers pulled Shanty from the crowd. One of them held his hands.”
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“I don’t know what happened after that but two people followed them outside, one of them in tears,” Njeri recalled the events leading up to Shanty’s death.
Njeri says that together with her friends, they stumbled on Shantys body at 9.40 pm, an hour after he had been dragged out of the concert.
The police then arrived and ordered everyone to leave.
Bridget Achieng, the NaiFest event organizer, has taken to social media a number of times, vehemently denying claims that Shanty died at the event. She claims that they found him injured backstage and rushed him to the hospital.
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Last week, a video emerged showing two men violently pounding and kicking Shanty as they dragged him out of the event.
DCI officers said that they had commenced investigations into Shanty’s death after a number of witnesses came forward to record statements.
Musicians, Frasha (Francis Amisi) and Nonini (Herbert Nakitare) joined the family to seek for justice for the young man’s death.
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