NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 24- Amnesty International-Kenya has condemned Wednesday’s abduction and subsequent torture of Deputy President William Ruto’s digital strategist Dennis Itumbi.
In a Tweet, the lobby group called on the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to probe the incident, with a view of bringing those found culpable to book.
The self-styleD Hustlers Nation spokesperson and a vocal supporter of the Deputy President was tortured for 6 hours before a taxi driver saw him in the Lucky Summer area in Kasarani.
He was naked when he was found and had multiple injuries on his body according to witnesses, friends, and police.
Both his legs were fractured, as well as his left hand, while his phone was missing.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has also condemned the attack and called for prompt investigations.
-What Happened-
At about 3 pm, four men, all clad in a balaclava abducted Itumbi as he was leaving a barbershop in the Thindigua area of Kiambu County.
He was forced into the back seat of the car, a silver Toyota Allion, during the shocking incident. The attackers would later move him into different vehicles as they moved him around the city.
What followed was a frantic search for Itumbi, including in police stations, to no avail.
Six hours later, he was found left in the Lucky Summer area in Kasarani by a taxi driver and rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.
“He was in a bad shape,” a friend to Itumbi told Shahidi News. “He has been living in fear for some time now.”
Who did this? It remains the big question, months after he claimed to, had been shot at while driving in Garden estate, not so far from where he was abducted on Wednesday.
“My brother has been badly beaten. We thank God that he is alive. On his own account, he was arrested by police and beaten and tortured. This is the state we found him in,” his brother David Itumbi said.
Amidst a public outcry and a hand of accusation, police headquarters said they were not involved.
Itumbi’s abductors confiscated his mobile phone.
Itumbi is known for his Hustlers Nation Investigative Bureau- a platform he uses to root for DP Ruto while exposing ‘facts’.
He has also not had kind words for the Inspector General of Police and Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi.
The issue was reported at the Thindigua police station, police confirmed.
By Thursday evening, Itumbi’s car, a Mercedes Benz, was still parked in the parking lot next to Joes Apartment, opposite Quickmart supermarket, Kiambu Road.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has linked the state to the attack, saying he was being targeted for his relentless support for the Deputy President.
According to his friends, Itumbi has been living in fear and more so after the August incident, when he claimed to have been shot at while driving in Garden estate.
He said to have heard gunshots being fired towards his car. The matter was reported at the Kasarani police station.
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