One of the suspects executed by police in Eastleigh on Thursday. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]
Eastleigh traders and residents have moved in to defend the alleged police officers who were caught on camera killing two suspected gangsters in what has now elicited strong condemnation from human rights’ groups.
Most of the interviewed traders said that though extra-judicial killing is illegal, the case in Eastleigh presents the 'crime' as the only option.
They said that with such punitive measures in place, police will be able to protect hardworking and innocent Kenyans from the hand of thieves.
They added that if police parade and kill suspected criminals in public, this would serve as a clear warning to other criminals.
A security guard who spoke on condition of anonymity said the slain duo have been pick-pocketing at daytime by snatching handbags and mobile phones in crowded places, and turning into violent criminals at night.
“My concern is not the killing of the thugs, but why police had unduly delayed their deaths for too long,” said the security guard.
“It is disrespectful for their parents to claim they were petty thieves, as if they had a right to steal from others. Everyday at dawn and in the evening, they armed themselves to waylay pedestrians and rob them, sometimes seriously wounding some.”
According to Porter Peter Mutwiri, the “officers should be rewarded for public execution of the two".
He accused the parents of mocking victims of robbery.
“Is it fair for the parents to claim their children are petty criminals? If I spend the whole day carrying luggage for traders on my back to earn Sh500 then get robbed of everything, who between me and the parents of those criminals should feel sad?” Mutwiri asked.
Abdi Hussein, a businessman, said the duo had robbed a woman before police trailed and caught them.
“It [the execution] looks inhumane to those who saw the killings on the video, but have they seen what the gangsters do to their victims at dawn?” he asked.