Anti-abduction demos: Protesters clash with police as demonstrations take off in Nairobi

Police and protesters have on Monday clashed in demonstrations held in the capital city of Nairobi over continued abductions and forced disappearances in the country.

Police lobbed several tear gas canisters at the protesters who refused to disperse. Several journalists were also caught in the melee that lasted for several hours.

Before the failed attempt to disperse them, hundreds of protesters stormed the streets of Nairobi in demonstrations against abductions and forced disappearances currently being witnessed in the country which are blamed on state agencies.

The protesters, who braved heavy police presence in the city, chanted slogans as they called for the immediate release of abducted youths.

The demonstrators, who were joined by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, sat for several hours on the city’s Agha Khan as police stood on the sidelines watching, before forcefully disrupting them.

Anti-riot police throw tear gas at demonstrators who staged a sit-in on Aga Khan Walk in the Nairobi CBD on December 30, 2024. (Photo: Barack Oduor)

Activist Odhiambo Ojiro, who led the activists in singing songs condemning President William Ruto's administration, said they are out to demonstrate against a government that is being led by impunity.

"We are out to protest against a government that is not respecting the Constitution that Kenyans fought hard to create," said Ojiro.

Senator Omtatah, who arrived holding a huge chain, said the government had no alternative but to immediately release Kenyans being held unlawfully.

"We are not in the streets to beg the government to have those abducted released but to demand that they be granted freedom," said Omtatah.

A tense atmosphere engulfed the city streets where the protesters were gathered as police on several occasions tried to stop the protests without success.

Businesses within the Nairobi central business district were closed following the confrontation between the police and the protesters, which spilled to Tom Mboya Street and Moi Avenue.