The National Police Service (NPS) is on the spot after a video circulating on social media showed officers carrying laptops after hired goons were seen looting shops in Nairobi’s CBD during protests demanding the resignation of the Deputy Inspector General of National Police, Eliud Lagat.
Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has come out to defend the police officers seen carrying laptops before boarding a nearby van along Moi Avenue in CBD.
The police have faced intense criticism online and have been accused of collaborating with hired goons to steal items from shops.
In a statement dated Wednesday, June 16, 2025, Passaris defended the police, stating they were securing the items.
Passaris Defends Police
In her statement, Passaris said she had spoken with the Nairobi Police Commander, who assured her that the items carried by the officers are currently in police custody, refuting the claim that the officers stole the items alongside the goons.
“Just spoke to the Regional Police Commandant in Nairobi, Mr. Seda. The laptops looted from the electronics shop were recovered and are safely in police custody,” she wrote.
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“Nation Media, your headline saying ‘police leave with laptops’ is misleading. The right word is ‘recovered,’ not ‘leave.’ Let’s report facts, not fuel mistrust,” the Nairobi Woman Representative said.
The video showing police officers carrying laptops from a shop has received widespread condemnation from some Kenyans who also accused them of looting within CBD shops.
Kenyans Accuse Police of Stealing Items Alongside Hired Goons
A user named Ja Loka said, “These officers captured carrying items borrowed without permission in CBD must be arrested and charged. The government of President Ruto does not condone theft.”
Another user named Mumo Omollo reacted to the video, saying, “This isn’t just theft; it’s a betrayal of trust. The irony is stolen goods won’t fix their lives; any money gained will likely be squandered, doing nothing for their actual struggles or the systemic problems that push them to such acts.”
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Lawyer Willis Otieno said, “There’s now evidence of a police officer stealing laptops, caught colluding with goons to loot and vandalize shops. This is no longer law enforcement; it is crimen sceleris, a crime of wickedness.”
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), which monitored Tuesday’s protests held in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi, and Kwale Counties on June 17, 2025, stated it has recorded twenty-two (22) casualties, including the shooting by police of a peaceful civilian who was shot at close range in Nairobi CBD and is currently in critical condition at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The other injuries range from gunshot wounds, head cuts, whip lashes, blunt trauma, and asthma attacks after inhaling tear gas.
In Nairobi, the Commission noted a massive deployment of masked hired goons on motorbikes who patrolled the streets while brutalizing the protesters and innocent citizens with tire whips, wooden bars, and other crude weapons.
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