Raila Odinga's bodyguard speaks of 72 hours of terror after abduction

Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga is shielded by his bodyguard Maurice Ogeta during the NASA anti-IEBC demos. [File, Standard] For more than 72 hours, Maurice Ogeta experienced hell after he was allegedly abducted by unknown people believed to be police officers on Wednesday morning. Ogeta, who is described as ever-present in the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's list of most trusted aides, was arrested, harassed and held incommunicado. For a man who has worked with the ODM leader for more than a decade, he said the 72-hour ordeal was the worst experience in his life, adding it was matter of life and death. Ogeta was abandoned in Ruai early Saturday morning after a public outcry over his alleged arrest. On Friday, the High Court ordered the Inspector General of Police, Japhet Koome, to produce Mr Ogeta in any court in the country. Mr Ogeta, who narrated his spine-chilling ordeal, says he left Ruai not able to locate where he had been held captive for three days. "I was held in a room that didn't look like a police station. I was in seclusion without food and no one to talk to," he said. On the fateful day of his abduction, Ogeta says he was heading to work when the abductors struck. "I was off duty that day and when I received an emergency call from my boss, I decided to rush using my car. I stopped briefly at a car wash in order to clean my car," he recalled. At the car wash, a vehicle with a Sudanese registration number plate sped past him. He claims another unmarked vehicle joined the car and parked a few metres away. "Even though they didn't get out of their vehicles, I could sense they were communicating. I became suspicious but concluded it was just a security patrol ahead of the anti-government demonstrations," he said. He said the two vehicles then turned and sped towards the car wash and occupants of one of the cars lowered the windows. "It is here that one of them informed me that I was under arrest. I first thought it was a joke. I told them that I am also a security officer but this seems to have angered them," said Mr Ogeta, adding that he surrendered by raising his hands up. They disarmed him before handcuffing him. They then bundled him in one of the car boots and drove off. "At one point, I was removed from the boot and taken inside one of the vehicles but an officer ordered that I be taken back to the boot," he said. For a journey that took about an hour, Mr Ogeta recalled how he was taken into a room, where the only thing he could see was the ceiling. He claims some people, who identified themselves as Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers came into the room twice. "They insisted in knowing Mr Odinga's route plan for the demonstrations and other details," he said. Mr Ogeta, who says that he has undergone stress, pressure and emotional torture, said he only felt outdoor environment when he was being guided through the staircases. After recording his statement and an inventory, he was driven out of the place. He says he was shuttled between four vehicles before he was abandoned in Ruai at around 1am. At his ancestral village in Uyoma, Rarieda sub-county, there was a sigh of relief following his release. "He called me at around 1am informing me that he was fine and was heading home," said his younger brother, Chris Ogeta.

Raila Odinga's bodyguard speaks of 72 hours of terror after abduction

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