Police have explained why they placed slain teacher Albert Omondi Ojwang in an isolated cell at the Central police station, Nairobi.
After his arrest from his Homabay home on June 6, 2025, he was driven to Nairobi and questioned at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters before being booked at the Central police station.
The team first reported at Mawego police station in Homabay before he was driven to Nairobi. He was taken to the station by the arresting officers at about 9.35 pm on Saturday June 7.
He told the officers at the station he was unwell and asthmatic and this forced them to lock him in an isolated cell.
“He claimed he was asthmatic, which prompted the officers to take him to the isolated cell,” said an officer aware of the incident.
He was given his mobile phone to call his family and friends before he was thrown into custody.
Ojwang’s final phone conversation with a friend revealed his anxiety about being in custody. In a recorded call, he asked:
“Have you ever been arrested? How is it? I have never experienced this before.” When he inquired, “Will I be safe?” his friend reassured him based on previous experience at Industrial Area police station.
The timelines have become central to the investigation, with officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) present at the station for a second consecutive day.
According to the Occurrence Book, he was the 59th suspect admitted to the station, booked at 2:35 a.m. under the charge of false publication.
It is not clear where he was or why he was not booked between 9.35 pm and 2.35 am when he was taken to the station.
According to records, at 3:45 a.m.—his death was officially recorded and signed off by two officers.
Inspector General Douglas Kanja explained that Ojwang was found unconscious during routine inspection at 1:39 am and rushed to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
However, family representatives dispute this account.
“This young man was alive and well when the police took him. But by Sunday, the family was being told he had died during treatment. The truth is, Albert died in custody. His body had multiple injuries, particularly on the head, and was bleeding from the nose and mouth,” said family lawyer Julius Juma.
An autopsy was planned on the body to explain how he died.
The team suspects he was not booked immediately and may have been taken out where he was battered. Police had initially claimed Ojwang injured himself in the cells.
Investigators have recovered several pieces of evidence from the holding cell where Ojwang was detained.
Among them are a pair of blood-stained white Crocs, a black top with visible blood marks, a wet maroon sweater, a water bottle, a transparent plastic cup, a jug, and a tumbler.
Sources indicate that the cell had bloodstains on both the walls and floor, with water also smeared across the floor.
Kanja, flanked by his two deputies—Gilbert Masengeli and Eliud Lagat—as well as the Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations John Onyango and the IPOA chairperson Isaak Hassan visited the scene of the crime.
Following mounting pressure, Kanja interdicted the Central Police Station commander, duty officer, cell sentry, and all officers on duty to allow impartial investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
“This is standard protocol to ensure impartial investigations. IPOA is leading the process. If anyone is found culpable, they will face the law,” Kanja stated.
Some of those interdicted claim they were on off duty when the incident happened.
Ojwang was a teacher based in Voi. He had traveled home in Homabay for the weekend when the incident happened.
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