Lords of terror: Armed policemen caught on CCTV brutalising Nandi residents

Policemen caught on CCTV brutalising Nandi residents. [Courtesy]

Adark cloud of fury hangs over Nandi Hills town following a harrowing night raid in which police officers are accused not only of brutalising residents but also of stealing from them.

The incident exposes a chilling new low in police misconduct, transforming law enforcers into alleged robbers and goons in uniform.

The night of January 10, which began as a normal Friday evening, descended into chaos and terror when a contingent of armed officers, said to be from the RDU camp based in Songhor, descended on the town centre.

For youths gathered at a popular pool joint in the shopping centre, their evening of leisure quickly turned into a nightmare.

Disturbing CCTV footage, now in wide circulation, shows about eleven young men chatting and laughing over a game of pool shortly before midnight.

In the nauseating footage, the young men are seen happily chatting and laughing as they shoot pool in a room within the shopping centre. Their entertainment is abruptly cut short when gun-toting police officers burst into the room and immediately order everyone to lie face down on the floor.

They are heard giving orders that anyone with a phone should switch it off, apparently out of fear that they might be recorded committing the atrocities.

Without provocation, the officers begin whipping the young men as they lie on the ground, demanding that they produce their national identification cards.

One young man in a black jacket tries to ask a question and is sent sprawling by a heavy slap.

Clearly relishing their barbaric actions, the officers, clad in combat gear, take turns beating the young men with batons, demanding to know what they were doing in a pool den late at night.

What followed was nine minutes of sheer brutality.

Collins Kimeli, one of the pool players nursing a deep injury behind his right knee, recounted the horror.

“When I showed my ID to one of the policemen, he ignored it and just started beating me on the back and legs. I was helpless,” he told The Saturday Standard.

But the assault, he revealed, was only the first layer of the violation.

“After beating us, they went through our pockets. They took our phones. We were lying there in pain, and they were robbing us,” Kimeli said.

This allegation of theft lies at the explosive centre of the growing scandal. It is not an isolated claim. Multiple victims and witnesses from different parts of town that night report a similar pattern: beatings followed by theft.

Cynthia Jepng’etich, a businesswoman nursing a swollen left jaw, said she was accosted by a group of more than ten officers just outside the entertainment spot.

“One of them shouted at me to lie down. Before I could even move, he hit my face. About four of them assaulted me before I managed to run when they turned to the pool room,” she narrated. She later learned that women running a nearby grocery kiosk were also attacked and robbed of money and phones.

Traders closing their shops were not spared. In total, about twenty youths sustained injuries to their legs, backs, chests and heads, with many seeking treatment at Nandi Hills Sub-County Hospital.

Facing mounting public outrage, the police, in a press statement signed by Director of Corporate Communication Muchiri Nyaga, said they were “appalled” and “deeply concerned” by the circulating CCTV footage, which they said depicts “barbaric behaviour” with no place in a civilised society.

Conspicuously, however, the National Police Service statement focused entirely on the assault, making no mention of the widespread allegations of theft. It described the incident as an “isolated” act that does not reflect the service’s values.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the officers had acted inhumanely, giving the service a bad name.

“The actions of the police is inhuman and unconstitutional. The Inspector General and IPOA have taken up the issue and the officers shall be arrested, charged and sacked,” said Murkomen.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja described the incident as galling. “I am very upset by the actions of a few police officers. Let me be clear—their behaviour does not stand for what the National Police Service is about. We are here to serve the public with respect and honesty. Once the investigations are finished, we will act quickly and firmly. Those responsible will face consequences.” 

He ordered the Internal Affairs Unit to conduct a swift investigation, with a strict three-day deadline.

Yesterday, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) announced investigations into the disturbing incident captured on video.

In a press statement signed by chairperson Ahmed Issack Hassan, the authority said preliminary findings confirmed the incident occurred on the stated date within Nandi Hills town, affecting several businesses.

The most damning evidence, however, lies in the official silence over the stolen property.

When Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen addressed press on June 26, 2025 at Harambee House Nairobi over status of security across the country. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Dismas Tenai, who lost his phone during the melee, went to Nandi Police Station to report the theft, only to hit a dead end.

“I reported the theft of my phone, but the officers on duty seemed unaware of any operation. They told me no items had been submitted as exhibits from any raid,” Tenai revealed.

“I just registered my case and went home empty-handed. We believe those officers went back to their camp with our valuables.”

Local leaders have condemned both the violence and the alleged theft by thugs in police uniform.

Nandi Hills MP Bernard Kitur said: “Those who were attacked were not criminals. They were young people enjoying their leisure. The officers who did this were inhuman. They beat, they stole, and they vanished. This is the behaviour of a criminal gang, not the police service we know.”

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang echoed the sentiment, linking the events to a constitutional crisis. “The disturbing footage from Nandi Hills shows a gross violation of the rights and dignity of our citizens. When officers graduate from assault to robbery, they completely shred the social contract and public trust,” he said.

Nandi County Police Commander Samuel Mukuusi pleaded ignorance in a startling admission. “I was not aware of any police operation in Nandi Hills that night. I also learned about it from social media,” he told The Saturday Standard.

He promised investigations but offered no explanation as to how a major armed operation could occur in his county without his knowledge, or where the victims’ stolen property could be.

The Nandi Hills tragedy is a symptom of a wider national crisis of police brutality and abuse of power. The situation is compounded by the revived and often unchecked authority of the provincial administration, especially chiefs, who have been reintroduced into security matters by the Office of the President.

Just this week, two assistant chiefs from Tips Njoro in Nakuru County were arrested by DCI officers. Stephen Njenga and Peter Mbugua Kamau are accused of beating a student, Joel Ngugi Ngigi, to death. In a heart-wrenching mobile phone video, the young man is heard pleading, “Tafadhali usiniue, tafadhali (Please don’t kill me, please),” as the administrators rained blows on him with a steel-tipped knobkerrie. He later succumbed to his injuries.

The two were arraigned in a Nakuru court on Thursday and charged with murder.

The case is not isolated. In February 2025, a former assistant chief in Kisumu was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder. In Meru, in April 2023, an assistant chief was jailed for 10 years for his role in the deaths of two boys. Security analyst George Musamali points to a fundamental flaw.

“The offices of chiefs and their assistants are operating in an unconstitutional manner regarding security. They are enforcers, not facilitators. They and the police often work in blame games, not collaboration, and their primary loyalty is to the government of the day, not the public,” Musamali said.

The roots of this crisis run deep in a culture of impunity within the security forces. The ghost of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang’, who died in police custody on July 8, 2025, under highly suspicious circumstances, continues to haunt the service.