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Internal Affairs Unit probes police ties to alleged trafficking of 37 Ethiopians

Four junior police officers were arrested on Tuesday morning at a house in Githurai, Kiambu County, where the Ethiopians were being held illegally.(Photo: Courtesy)

By Mary Wambui | 21 Feb 2024

While incidents of Ethiopian nationals getting arrested for being in Kenya illegally have become common, reports of the involvement of police officers in their trafficking are new.

The Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) has taken over the investigation into the alleged involvement of four junior police officers in the smuggling and trafficking of 37 Ethiopians into the country.

The four officers were arrested on Tuesday morning at a house in Githurai where the Ethiopians were being held illegally.

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Officials aware of the happenings said the officers were recording statements at the unit's head office at KCB Towers in Upper Hill, Nairobi.

Their arrest happened during a multi-agency operation led by the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in collaboration with the regular police.

According to the police, the 37 were found sleeping on the floor of a house in Kizito, Mwihoko, under unclear circumstances.

"An extended search was conducted in the adjacent plot after two men were seen jumping over a perimeter wall and it was established the two were police officers," police said in a report filed at Mwihoko Police Station under OB number 09/20/02/24.

The two officers suffered ankle injuries while fleeing the ambush. After their arrest, they claimed they were going after the foreigners suspected to be human trafficking victims.

However, while the multi-agency team was still at the scene, two more officers from Pangani Police Station arrived at the scene in a car, with two handcuffed foreigners.

The officers, who were armed at the time of the arrest, were escorted to the DCI headquarters in Kiambu County for interrogation.

While incidents of Ethiopian nationals getting arrested for being in Kenya illegally have become common, cases of police involvement in trafficking have not been reported as much.

On Monday afternoon, a group of 90 Ethiopians, both minors and adults, was arrested in an Isuzu canter at a roadblock in Imbirikani, Kajiado County.

Police said the men and women aged between 10 and 24 had no identification documents.

The Kenyan driver of the lorry said he had been contracted by an unknown person from Nairobi to deliver the group to an individual introduced to him as Ken.

The victims were searched and booked into the Imbirikani Police Station and the driver arrested on the accusation of human trafficking.

On January 6, this year 47 more Ethiopians were arrested at Makindu town in Makueni County for being in the country ilegally. The group was on transit to Mombasa in a truck.

On August 23 last year, 82 aliens were caught in a residential house in Athi River and taken to court where a court ordered their repatriation.

Police said the group had been found unlawfully confined in a residential house whose owner is yet to be established. In September the 12 more aged 15 to 20 were arrested from a house in Umoja, Nairobi, for being in the country illegally.

In March 2022, the government released a group of 139 Ethiopians who had crossed to the country illegally.

On January 6 this year, 47 Ethiopians were arrested at Makindu town in Makueni County for being in the country ilegally. The group was heading to Mombasa in a truck.

On August 23 last year, 82 aliens were caught in a residential house in Athi River and taken to a court, which ordered their repatriation.

Police said the group was found unlawfully confined to the house whose owner was not immediately established. The following month, a group of 12 Ethiopuans aged 15 to 20 was arrested at a house in Umoja, Nairobi, on the same charges.

In March 2022, the government released a group of 139 Ethiopians who had illegally crossed into Kenya.