• Relatives claim he was hit by a police bullet while on his way to a shop near his mother’s rented house.
• Kimani said the hospital bill had by Tuesday risen to around Sh200,000 and they do not money.
Image: HANDOUT
A family in Kariobangi South, Nairobi, is demanding justice for a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly injured by a police bullet under unclear circumstances last Thursday.
The family wants the National Police Service to take full responsibility of the incident and ensure justice for the boy.
Elvis Muhia is a Grade 7 pupil at Riverside Primary School in Kariobangi South.
Relatives claim he was hit by a police bullet in the stomach while on his way to a shop near his mother’s rented house.
Muhia was taken to a hospital in the area, where he was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital.
The incident was reported at Kariobangi police station the same day at 7.20pm under OB Number 56/23/05/2024 by Muhia’s uncle, George Kimani.
He said the boy was taken to hospital by residents after they moved around the estate with him on a mkokoteni in protest.
“The mother was called on the phone and told her child had been shot and taken to hospital. At the facility, the boy received first aid and referred to KNH, where he was placed in ICU for three days. He is now in the general ward,” Kimani said.
He said when he inquired from the officers why the boy was shot at and injured, they said there were people who wanted to torch a bulldozer during the ongoing demolitions of structures along Nairobi River.
“One of the officers at the station told me that bullets were discharged to scare away those who wanted to torch the bulldozer, someone got injured and they heard he had been taken to hospital,” Kimani told reporters on Tuesday.
“The child was headed to a nearby shop to buy an exercise book when he was hit by the bullet.”
Kimani said the hospital bill had by Tuesday risen to around Sh200,000 and they do not money.
Starehe police commander Fred Abuga said they were waiting for a report from hospital on whether the injuries were caused by a bullet so they can launch investigations.
“We haven’t received a report from the hospital to establish if he was shot. Some youths were fighting for steel metals from a building that was being pulled down in the ongoing demolitions on riparian land. Then, they suddenly started stoning a bulldozer prompting our officers to shoot in the air,” Abuga said on Tuesday.
He said some of those who were at the scene fell down following the police shooting in the air.
“Officers say this boy could have fallen on a sharp object leading to the injuries. But, later I heard it could be a bullet that had hit him. If the report from hospital establishes he was shot by a bullet, we will forward the case to the DCI for investigations,” Abuga said.
He said they have kept all the firearms that shot bullets at the scene on that day awaiting the hospital’s report.
“We will take the firearms for ballistics examination. I will follow up on the matter,” Abuga said.
Some storey buildings were being pulled down by a bulldozer when the Star visited the scene where the child had been allegedly hit by a bullet.
Some youth were removing doors, windows among other valuables from a six-storey building. A foreman said the owner had requested the authorities to allow him demolish the structure himself to salvage a few of the construction materials.
Image: HANDOUT