Journalist Macharia Gaitho has been released from police custody after hours of his violent abduction.
The National Police Service (NPS) says the arrest of the journalist and newspaper columnist on Wednesday morning was a case of mistaken identity.
Macharia was arrested at the Karen Police Station in Nairobi and forced into a car by men who introduced identified themselves as Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers, Anita Gaitho, the journalist’s daughter narrated.
“This is the car that abducted him. Look at that foolish driver wanting to knock us down when leaving. These fu***** criminals. They claim to be DCI, they had guns and handcuffs and refused to identify themselves,” Anita Gaitho narrated in a post on X (formerly twitter).
She shared videos of a white Toyota Probox speeding out of the police station and another Subaru Forester which she said police used to block the car her family was driving
In a post shared on X by the National Police Service they stated that they meant to arrest one Francis Gaitho.
“This morning, we arrested journalist Macharia Gaitho in a case of mistaken identity, meant for the arrest of Francis Gaitho who is our subject of investigation,” read the post.
“We reiterate that as a service, we do not target journalists in any way, and today’s incident is highly regrettable.” Read the report
