NAIROBI, Kenya- The Kenya Media Sector Working Group has named a specialised police unit within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations as being behind the abduction of Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich.
Speaking on behalf of the media sector coalition, Kenya Union of Journalists Secretary-General Eric Oduor said the group’s own inquiries had identified the Operations Support Unit (OSU) as the unit involved in the journalist’s abduction.
Oduor said the unit was headed by a retired police officer identified as Zachary Kariuki, whom he said was still working on contract.
Similar revelations were made by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who named Kariuki as the head of the 60-member unit.
“This abduction was carried out by a police unit called Operation Support Unit,” Oduor said, according to an account of the briefing.
The coalition also identified an officer it said was seen confronting Kiprotich during the incident as Corporal Chemosit, sayin that he was sent to seize the journalist.
The revelations come a day after Kiprotich was abducted along the Gilgil-Nakuru Road by armed and masked men before being found alive near Masinga Dam in Machakos County, about nine hours later.
Footage shared by The Standard Group showed armed men surrounding Kiprotich’s vehicle and forcing him out.
The Standard reported that Kiprotich told colleagues he had been taken by four masked men armed with AK-47 rifles and transported in a Subaru bearing registration number KDC 125E.
The media organisation has also reported that the men appeared to be police officers and that the vehicle was fitted with a siren. Those claims have not been independently established.
The National Police Service has ordered an investigation into the incident.
Inspector General Douglas Kanja directed the Anti-Abduction Unit to establish what happened and identify the heavily armed individuals seen forcing occupants out of the vehicle.
The police have not publicly confirmed that the OSU was involved in the abduction.
The media sector coalition, however, said the incident should not be treated as an ordinary roadside crime, describing it as an alleged attempt to intimidate journalists and the wider media fraternity.
The latest allegations add to concerns surrounding Kiprotich’s safety. He was reportedly the target of another attempted abduction in Nakuru on June 27, when armed men travelling in a Toyota Probox allegedly tried to force him out of his vehicle.
The Standard Group later said its own investigations had traced that vehicle to the National Police Service’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB). No one has been publicly held accountable for that incident.
