A 30-year-old man is receiving treatment at Naivasha Sub-County Hospital after being shot by a police officer on Monday morning, allegedly while the officer was under the influence of alcohol.
The victim, Jimmy Ngugi, was shot in the neck following an altercation with the officer, who had urinated on Ngugi’s motorcycle.
Ngugi had been attending a performance by Jamaican reggae artist Glen Washington at a club in Naivasha, Nakuru County, when the incident occurred.
“I approached him and asked why he was urinating on my bike when there was space nearby. I turned on my phone’s light to show him, and he responded, ‘What do you want me to do now?’” Ngugi recalled.
The situation quickly escalated when the officer, attached to the Critical Infrastructure Police Unit (CIPU), pulled out his firearm and shot Ngugi.
“All I wanted was for him to stop urinating on my bike, but instead, he drew his gun and shot me,” Ngugi explained from his hospital bed.
Ngugi, a boda boda rider, sustained a gunshot wound to the neck and a fractured collarbone. While he survived the ordeal, his friends who were with him at the time are now living in fear.
“We’re terrified. I was standing right next to him when it happened, and so far, no action has been taken against the officer,” said one of Ngugi’s friends.
Ngugi and his family are demanding justice, calling on the authorities to hold the officer accountable.
“I want the government to address this issue of police brutality. Officers are abusing their power against innocent people, and we’ve seen this happen repeatedly,” Ngugi said.
His mother, Hannah Wacheke, expressed her shock and anger: “This was a police officer, someone who knows the law. Why are they given guns and allowed to carry them into bars?”
Isaac Kiama, the head of Criminal Investigations in Naivasha, confirmed that investigations into the incident are ongoing.
