Blogger Ndiangui Kinyagia goes missing after alleged DCI raid at his house
The family claim DCI officers broke into Kinyagia’s house in Kinoo, Nairobi, on Sunday after a lengthy standoff with the caretaker.
Another controversial online activist, Ndiangui Kinyagia, has gone missing under unclear circumstances, prompting the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to move to court seeking police accountability over his disappearance.
Lawyer Wahome Thuku in a post on Tuesday said according to family members, Kinyagia, 31, was last heard from on Saturday morning , June 21 before his phone went off.
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Since then, all calls to his cellphone have gone unanswered, and neither his family nor friends know his whereabouts.
The family reported his disappearance at Kinoo Police Station on Monday morning, where they obtained an occurrence book (OB) number.
However, officers at the station allegedly said they had no knowledge of the incident, stating that no report had been made by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), whose officers are alleged to have conducted a raid at Kinyagia’s residence.
The family claim DCI officers broke into Kinyagia’s house in Kinoo, Nairobi, on Sunday after a lengthy standoff with the caretaker.
The officers are reported to have arrived at the residence at around 2pm in about ten vehicles and camped at the compound for nearly nine hours.
After negotiating with the caretaker for hours, they forcibly entered the house at around 9pm.
Neighbours who witnessed the raid said the officers carried away several personal items, including two laptops, two phones, both his old and current passports, and a yellow fever card.
After the operation, they recorded an inventory of the seized items with the caretaker and locked the house using their own padlock.
At the time of the raid, Kinyagia, who is an information technology expert, was not present. The officers did not show any court order allowing them to break into the premises.
His mother said she last spoke to him on Saturday morning, after which his phone went silent. Since then, there has been no communication, and efforts by the family and friends to trace him have yielded no fruits.
“I later accompanied the family to the LSK offices where we held a meeting with the LSK president Faith Odhiambo and other officials and agreed to have the society move to court for further intervention,” said Thuku who was present during the meeting
The Law Society of Kenya is now preparing an urgent application to be filed in the High Court seeking orders to compel the police to produce Kinyagia and explain the circumstances of his disappearance and the raid on his home.
This incident adds to growing concerns around the safety of vocal bloggers and activists in Kenya, with recent months seeing an increase in disappearances and detentions under unclear circumstances.
The LSK’s legal action is expected to put pressure on the authorities to account for Kinyagia’s whereabouts and the legality of the raid conducted at his residence.
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