Journalist shot while covering protests in Nakuru faces new threats, fears for safety

Wanjeri, who spoke with the media after filing a police report, stated that she received a threatening call shortly after returning to Nakuru for a doctor's appointment last week.

According to the journalist, who has been seeking reparation after being shot by a rogue police officer, the threats appear to be related to her ongoing pursuit of justice.

"I do not feel safe in Nakuru or anywhere else in the country; the person who called me threatened me and warned me about the situation," Wanjeri said.

"Since that day, I have not felt safe in Nakuru or elsewhere."

Wanjeri expressed fears that the longer the case takes, with the culprit who shot her still at large, it may take a toll on her as well as her family. 

She told the media that she had even considered dropping the matter altogether as she was not sure what 

"The person who shot me is still out there, still working, and we don't even know what kind of powers they have in the National Police Service and what kind of protection they have," she added. 

"I'm  just a mere journalist, I have no protection at all so I don't feel safe."

Since the shooting incident, Wanjeri says she has resorted to ignoring calls from any new numbers. 

The journalist, who is still recovering from surgery to remove three rubber bullets from her thigh, claims she has previously been subjected to brutal police actions.

“I left my house at around 1:30pm thinking that I’m going to cover protests and go back home, little did I know that I would end up in hospital with stitches on my thigh, and I don’t know what kind of damage those scars are going to do to me,” she said.

Wanjeri, who was wearing a jacket clearly labelled press while covering the protests, recounted the moments before she was shot.

“We were journalists from different media houses standing when I was shot…my mum had called me 7 minutes before I was shot to tell me that I should be careful,” she recalled.

Wanjeri gave an account of Tuesday’s protests in Nakuru and claimed that police officers had singled her out, as this was not an isolated case.

“Nobody would convince me that I was not a target, I had been hit with a tear gas canister but I did not report, I did not even escalate it, I showed my colleagues the scar on the same leg that I was shot at,” narrated the journalist.

Wanjeri was caught moments before being shot giving toothpaste to a police officer sitting in a police vehicle, believing it would help her cope with the effects of tear gas.

What followed was an officer in a police vehicle who shot at her; the bullets struck her in the thigh.