IPOA seeks DCI officer's detention over killing of two boda boda riders in Thika

A court in Kiambu on Monday ordered that a police officer remain in custody pending a ruling on an application by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to detain him over the killing of two boda boda riders.

Erick Gitonga Nyaga was brought before the Kiambu Law Courts over allegations of killing the two along the Thika–Garissa Highway on Sunday, September 8.

The court heard that Nyaga’s black Audi was involved in an accident with a motorbike, sparking chaos in which angry riders torched his vehicle.

According to IPOA’s assistant director of forensics, Paul Njehia, the matter was reported on September 7, 2025, leading to immediate investigations into the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Kennedy Ojuma and 39-year-old Stephen Mwenda.

Njehia testified that traffic police officers arriving at the scene found Nyaga appearing intoxicated.

He allegedly refused their assistance and, during the confrontation, fatally shot the two boda boda riders on the spot.

The suspect was arrested and booked at Thika Police Station with his firearm, a Duma pistol serial number D09220515, and ammunition seized as exhibits.

IPOA has asked the court to allow Nyaga’s detention for three weeks to enable ballistic analysis of the weapon, postmortems on the deceased, recording of witness statements, and further scene investigations.

However, Nyaga’s defence lawyer Philip Langat opposed the application, arguing that the Constitution requires suspects to be arraigned within 24 hours unless compelling reasons are shown.

He said detention was unnecessary for IPOA to carry out postmortems or visit the scene, insisting Nyaga had not interfered with the case and was willing to cooperate while out on bail.

Langat further applied for the preservation of Nyaga’s clothes from the material day as defence exhibits and, if detention was deemed necessary, asked that he be held at Gigiri Police Station for security reasons.

The ODPP, however, supported IPOA’s position, telling the court that Nyaga was not “an ordinary civilian” but a licensed firearm holder who could potentially interfere with investigations.

The decision on whether IPOA will be granted 21 days to detain him will be delivered on Tuesday, September 9.