'This is state terror': Muturi warns over night police abductions

Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi.
[Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi has accused police of turning into agents of terror by abducting citizens under the guise of law enforcement.

Muturi, who also served as Attorney General,  argued the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has replaced due process with fear by sending masked or plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles to seize individuals at night without identifying themselves.

“We are witnessing the devolution of policing into tyranny,” noted Muturi.

The Constitution under Article 49 requires that arrested persons are informed promptly, allowed to communicate with an advocate and brought to court within twenty-four hours.

Muturi observed these protections are being ignored by security agencies.

“These are not arrests, they are abductions,” explained Muturi.

He argued the use of night-time raids and force has created fear in households and stripped the Kenya Police Service of legitimacy, insisting that national security cannot be used as an excuse to break the law.

“Security that abandons the law is not security, it is impunity,” added Muturi.

Muturi explained that Kenyans can no longer differentiate between lawful policing and criminal kidnapping, warning that such practices align with regimes that have lost their moral compass.

He called on President William Ruto and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to take responsibility by disbanding covert arrest squads and reaffirming the supremacy of the Constitution.

“This is not about opposition or government, it is about every Kenyan’s right to live in a country where rule of law is respected,” he said.

The statement follows public concerns over the rising number of alleged abductions targeting government critics and protesters, with reports of individuals being taken from homes without notice or communication to their families.