The family of Joshua Okayo the president of Kenya School of Law (KSL) student governing council has revealed the state of his health following his release by abductors.
Joshua was found alive near Maragua river in Murang’a county following his abduction during anti-Finance Bill demonstrations on Wednesday, June 26.
Speaking to the press, a family member revealed that the student leader had visible injuries and appeared shaken.
“Upon finding him, Joshua Okayo seems to be in a position, in a state that one would describe as a state of confusion,” a family member said
Additionally, Okayo’s brother said Joshua told him he was tortured adding that he was in pain following the ordeal.
“He told me that he was tortured, he has a lot of pain, beginning from the neck, and on his entire body,” he added.
Likewise, medical staff have reported that he is under medical observation due to his condition especially the psychological trauma he endured.
His colleague expressed his unusual state citing that he wasn’t the same person they were used to seeing.
“The way we have seen him, he is not the same person we know, he is not active as he is. So, we know and we believe that he has gone through a lot,”
Okayo’s brother added that, “We have been shaken, we have been threatened by this issue.”
Also Read: Tea Plantation & Murang’a County: LSK Details How Abductees Were Dumped After Ordeal
Safety of Activists in Kenya
However, Joshua’s abduction marks the recent trend of activist abductions by people alleged to be police officers.
The abductions have sparked widespread concern about the safety and well-being of activists in Kenya.
Upon his release, Saturday nation columnist and parliamentary staffer in the office of minority leader, Gabriel Oguda, highlighted his two nights of horror after being abducted by alleged police officers.
“Today I will jump the sequence of my extra – judicial abduction, which is now in the public domain, to the section where I finally found myself inside the Kajiado police station cells, halfway around the world from where I was picked up, at ungodly hours, ironically by a regime that campaigned on the deceptive platform of returning Kenya back to the body of Christ,” Oguda said.
Oguda recalled being held up at the cell with other young men who had allegedly been involved in the anti- finance bill protests in Kajiado town.
“Tuesday afternoon, June 25, 2024, my cell inside Kajiado Police Station started filling up. At intervals of less than half-an-hour, the station duty master would antagonize the monetary peace by fighting the partially grilled door to allow those who had been rounded up, mostly young men, allegedly for participating in the demos in Kajiado town that afternoon,” he added.
Also Read: Gabriel Oguda Breaks Silence, Explains His Twitter Break
Family and Colleagues of Joshua Call Out the Government
The government has been called out for using arrests and abductions as a strategy to diffuse the protests against the Finance Bill 2024.
A law expert condemned the abduction and torture of Joshua Okayo stating that it was his constitutional right to picket.
“We have the constitution, and we promised that we will follow it, students have the freedom to picket. So, threatening students, abducting them, throwing them in the river and hurting them is such a bad thing,” he said.
Joshua’s colleague noted that, “What we have experienced in the few days, is the government trying to take us during the days before we had our constitution.”
Additionally, the youth have stressed the importance of justice and accountability for these troubling incidents involving law enforcement officers.
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