Court grants police seven-day detention for suspects with explosives

Dancan Odhiambo Otieno and Calvin Ochieng Odongo before a Milimani Law court in Nairobi on Monday, August 12, 2024. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

A court in Nairobi has allowed police to detain Dancan Odhiambo Otieno and Calvin Ochieng Odongo for seven more days at Central Police Station pending investigations.

The suspects were arrested with four grenades outside businessman Jimi Wanjigi's home in Muthaiga.

Milimani Chief Magistrate Bernard Ochoi approved the detention period, though he noted it was shorter than the 14 days requested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The court deemed the extended detention necessary to confirm the suspects' identities and to allow time for the Bomb Disposal Unit to analyse the grenades.

Additionally, the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) will review the communication devices found with the suspects to ensure they are licensed for use in the country.

"The court agrees that their identity needs to be confirmed before they can be released. The suspects will be held at Central Police Station," said Ochoi.

Lawyer Willis Otieno, representing the suspects, argued that the explosives were found on Wanjigi's property and suggested that the police might have planted them.

"Let the state deal with Wanjigi, not the two suspects. It's police officers who planted the explosives," he claimed.

He further argued that CCTV footage allegedly showed individuals planting the explosives at Wanjigi's house and in a car.

"Allow the giants to fight like giants; we should not waste the court's time by involving innocent parties in what they do not know," added Otieno.