Petition wants IG Kanja to produce three missing men in 24 hours

Families of three missing men have moved to the High Court seeking orders compelling Inspector General Douglas Kanja and police to produce them alive or dead.in court within 24 hours alleging they were abducted by armed men believed to be security officers.

In three separate habeas corpus applications filed under certificates of urgency before the Milimani High Court Criminal Division on Friday, the families of Michael Oloo Osoro, Evans Otieno Omondi and Macmillan Kiarie Mugo, together with Siasa Place, want the court to compel the National Police Service to account for the men's whereabouts who disappeared last month.

The applications, filed by their lawyers led by former LSK President Faith Odhiambo And Abner Mango name the Inspector General of Police, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the respective Officers Commanding Station (OCS), the Attorney General and Inspector General Douglas Kanja himself as respondents.

The missing person through three women  Rose Sopi, Pamela Aloo and Beatrice Wanjira are seeking a mandatory order of habeas corpus directing the Inspector General to produce the three missing men before the Milimani High Court within 24 hours together with the original of any warrant or order for detention.

They also want the court to summon Inspector General Douglas Kanja to personally explain the whereabouts of the missing men.

Further they want  conservatory orders barring the state from arresting or continuing to detain them without leave of the High Court and, upon their production, order their unconditional release pending any lawful criminal proceedings.

In the first application, Rose Sopi, who is suing as the wife of Michael Oloo Osoro, says her husband disappeared on June 19, 2026, after leaving their home for his usual daily engagements.

According to her affidavit, she spent the following day searching for him before learning from people in the neighbourhood that he had visited a nearby barbershop.

"The attendant at the barbershop informed me that the subject was picked up from the barbershop while being shaved by men in a black Subaru who are believed to be officers within the country's security apparatus," she states.

She adds that, "The persons were all armed with handcuffs and rifles, while some were additionally armed with pistols secured in thigh holsters."

Rose says she reported her husband's disappearance at Buruburu Police Station on June 22, where she was issued with OB No. 19/22/06/26.

"I have also visited various hospitals and morgues within Nairobi in search of subject without any success," she says.

She further tells the court: "I reasonably believe that the subject has been abducted by a clandestine unit within the country's security apparatus and that the subject is now a victim of torture and/or intimidation and even risks death."

In the second application, Pamela Aloo says she received information on June 26, 2026, that her husband Evans Otieno Omondi, a boda boda rider operating in Mathare had gone missing.

She says she later established that he had last been seen in Ruai.

"On doing a follow up, I found out that the subject was last seen in a shop at Ruai, where he was picked up by persons believed to be police officers, who left his motorbike behind," she states.

Pamela says the disappearance was reported at Ruai Police Station under OB No. 35/27/06/26, but despite inquiries at police stations, hospitals and morgues, the family has not been told where he is being held or by whom.

"It is reasonably believed that the subject has been abducted by a clandestine unit within the country's security apparatus and that the subject is now a victim of torture and/or intimidation and even risks death," the affidavit states.

The third application has been filed by Beatrice Wanjira, the mother of Macmillan Kiarie Mugo, who says her son disappeared on June 20, 2026 after leaving his home in the Kizito area of Githurai.

She says CCTV footage captured him leaving the apartment before residents allegedly saw him being bundled into a vehicle.

"Business persons and residents around the area have anonymously informed the family that three people in a black vehicle, believed to be police men, clandestinely picked the subject shortly after he left the apartments he resides in and hurriedly drove off with him," the court papers state.

According to the application, the family reported the disappearance at both Mwihoko and Mathare police stations and was issued with OB Nos. 25/23/06/26 and 03/23/06/26 respectively.

Across all three applications, the families say they have never been informed of the reasons for the alleged arrests, the agency responsible for the detention or where the men are being held.

The petitions state that the writs of habeas corpus are intended to secure the immediate production of the subject whose liberty and life are under immense threat.

Lawyer Odhiambo argue that unless the court intervenes urgently, the lives of the missing men remain at risk and ask the High Court to compel the state to produce them before court "dead or alive" and explain the circumstances surrounding their disappearance.