The National Police Service has released its preliminary findings on the death of a 24-year-old alleged activist who went missing in November 2024 and his body was found at Thika Level Five Hospital mortuary.
Ibrahim Mwiti was last seen in Nairobi city centre on November 11 before he disappeared, prompting a search by his family.
His friends resorted to social media platforms seeking help to locate him alleging that Mwiti was abducted.
In a statement on Sunday, NPS said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had conducted investigations and established that Mwiti died in a hit-and-run accident along Thika Road on November 12, 2024.
"Ibrahim Hilal Mwiti was last seen alive on November 11, 2024, and was reported missing by his mother, at Kamukunji Police Station on 15/11/24, and at Juja Police Station on 18/11/2023,'' the statement said.
Police said a missing person circulation was done on 22/11/2024 by Juja Police Station after preliminary enquiries had turned negative referencing the 18/11/2024 initial missing person report.
"Notably, his body had been discovered on November 12, 2024, past midnight by Juja Traffic Police after he was fatally knocked down by a hit-and-run vehicle while riding a hired motorcycle Registration No. KMFG 807C at Spur Mall area along the Thika Super Highway,'' it said in the statement.
According to the police statement, the body which had visible head injuries was later transported and preserved at General Kago Hospital Mortuary as an unknown due to a lack of identification documents at the accident scene, and the motorcycle was secured at the Juja Traffic Office.
Fingerprints of the deceased were taken by Juja Traffic Police, and submitted to the National Registration Bureau, and the results dated November 21, 2024, positively identified the body as that of Ibrahim Hilal Mwiti, police stated.
The NPS said that on January 2, 2025, Ibrahim’s mother swore an affidavit before Thika Law Courts requesting the waiver of a postmortem examination in accordance with her religious belief and subsequently sought the release of the body which was granted by the Court.
"'The body was laid to rest at Lang'ata Muslim Cemetery on January 3, 2025,'' it said.
Police said Mwiti's mother recorded her formal statement with the DCI on January 4, 2025, and stated that Ibrahim was not an activist.
"The National Police Service urges media and the general public to refrain from disseminating unverified and misleading information, likely to incite the public,'' the statement said.
Mwiti earned a living as a delivery man some 45 kilometres away from where he was last seen.