A former police chief has taken action against social media users accusing him of running a government abduction squad. Abel Kimutai Bitok has asked the Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin to investigate two social media users who published his personal details and photographs.
Bitok’s details and photographs were leaked online hours after former Deputy President Rigathi Gacahagua on December 27, 2024, made claims that “there is a unit of police officers not under the command of Inspector General of Police that are carrying out these abductions and killings”.
Further, he stated that “there is a building in Nairobi at the city center where this unit is operating from led by a certain Mr. Abel”.
However, Abel Kimutai Bitok has refuted the social media posts claiming he is the head of the unit accused of abducting government critics.
According to public records, Bitok resigned from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in 2022 where he had worked as a fraud investigator in the Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit.
In a letter to the DCI from his lawyers, Ham. K. Lagat Advocates, the former officer has lodged a formal complaint against the two for allegedly tarnishing his name.
Abel Bitok takes action
He wants the DCI to take action against the two social media users whose posts, he says, contravene the Cyber Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, Section 27, because they are “false and malicious”.
“We formally lodge a complaint against Daniel Onyango (@oduk) and @DanChepta for cyber harassment and demand that action be taken against them for exposing our client to danger through defamation and harassment,” said Brian Kipruto, a lawyer at the law firm.
“This cyber harassment has exposed him to significant risk of harm considering the public ire this subject of abductions has drawn.”
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The lawyer said that on December 27, 2024, Onyango posted the LinkedIn profile of their client Abel Kimutai Bitok which shows that he is a fraud investigator at the DCI, a post he left two years ago.
“Our client resigned from the National Police Service on September 26, 2022. Further, the social media posts have exposed our client to significant risk due to the public ire the abductions have elicited,” he said.
Further details
The lawyers attached a letter titled “Resignation from National Police Service Under 24 Hours Rule”, which Bitok reportedly submitted on September 23, 2022, to inform his superiors of his resignation.
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His resignation was accepted by the Inspector-General of Police on September 26, 2022, according to this letter.
Additionally, Bitok argues that social media user @oduk falsely and maliciously linked him to the recent spate of abductions.
The lawyers have demanded that Onyango immediately cease and desist from making further defamatory statements regarding their client.
They also want him to retract the “defamatory posts” about Abel Kimutai Bitok and issue an unqualified apology to him on the same X platform upon which we will discuss the issue of damages.
“Take notice, if you do not comply with our demands within five days, we have firm instructions to institute legal proceedings against you without any further reference to you,” the demand letter said.
Abduction wave
The letter comes amid upsurge in abductions of young people by suspected state security agents which has sparked outrage among Kenyans who are demanding the release of the victims and the arrest and prosecution of those involved.
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In a statement on December 26, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said that since June when the Anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests rocked the country, 29 people have been reported missing in suspected abductions.
KNCHR further said that so far, there are 13 abduction cases that have been reported in the last three months.
This has prompted condemnation and sparked outrage among Kenyans, including political leaders, religious figures, civil society groups, and various institutions.
A section of Kenyans is gearing up for another round of protests on Monday, December 30, in their continued push for reforms in the country as they demand that the government puts an end to the abductions and ensures that all youths reported as missing are released.
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