Residents of Mombasa County have lamented of brutality by army officers at a time when the disciplined forces have been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

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They lament of being harassed by naval soldiers who were manning the city ahead of the Mashujaa Day celebrations which were held at the Mama Ngina Waterfront.

Some have said that they were harassed, with some being forced to sit in mud puddles and sewer, as was the case with Mr Chikore.

He says that he was forced to swim in a sewer for 10 minutes over what the army officers, some masked and others in armoured vehicles, termed looking suspicious.

"They wrestled me to the ground and later forced me to swim inside filthy sewage. I tried to run but they hit me with the butt of a gun,” he told the Standard.

Salim Matano says that he was headed for the celebration venue when the officers forced him to do press-ups in the sewerage, drink the water and later beat him up severely.

“This is needless terror. Anyway, I blame myself for trying to attend the Mashujaa celebrations. If I had stayed at home, I could not have been forced to drink from a sewer,” he said.

For Moses Juma from Jamvi La Wageni, he was forced to undress in the full glare of his girlfriend and then forced to sit on the sewer, alongside his girlfriend.

He says that he was later beaten by the officers near the ferry area as they crossed to Mama Ngina Park.

Such actions from the uniformed forces are not new, as only days ago the police were on the spotlight over claims of raiding bars, robbing people and destroying property in Nairobi.