Chaos in Nakuru during protests over missing fisherman

A section of roads in Nakuru was blocked in the protests. PHOTO: HANDOUT

Chaos reigned in parts of Nakuru during protests on Thursday over missing fisherman Brian Odhiambo.

Odhiambo has been missing for a week after suspected state agency officials picked him up.

On Thursday, police said they had questioned some officials over the issue as part of the probe into the saga.

This did not stop a planned protest which turned ugly with residents engaging police in running battles across Nakuru Town East.

Angry residents set ablaze parts of Lake Nakuru National Park during the protests to demand the immediate release of the fisherman.

The protests, which entered day five on Thursday, also led to several students of Kimathi Secondary School being rushed to the hospital for treatment after they suffocated out of lethal teargas lobbed by security officers to disperse the demonstrators.

Odhiambo disappeared on Saturday, January 18, 2025, with residents insisting that he was last seen being roughed up and whisked away by some officers.

Kenya Wildlife Service officers and anti-riot police units initially deployed to restore calm sought backup from nearby sub-counties to contain the protesters.

The demonstrators lit bonfires and blocked the road leading to Lake Nakuru National Park with stones.

This prompted police to use live ammunition and tear gas canisters that were shot in the air in efforts nto disperse the group.

The situation escalated further when the protesters accessed the park through the Langa Langa 46 area and set parts of it ablaze.

Area leaders and human rights activists have lamented over what they term sluggish progress in the police investigations.

Brian Odhiambo’s whereabouts remain a mystery as the police reveal that 13 officers have been interrogated in relation to the matter as investigations continue.

Police said the file will be sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with recommendations.

Regional police commanders held meetings to plan the way forward to address the issue.

Police commander Jasper Ombati said experts are handling the saga and urged for calm and patience.

Meanwhile, locals in the YMCA are protesting the shooting of another man identified as Eliud Ochieng, 32.

Ochieng was shot in the lower part of his left leg along the Kisumu Ndogo area along the National Park.

He is admitted at a local hospital amid a probe into the saga.