Dozens of Nigerian nationals on Wednesday stormed their High Commission in Nairobi, to demand audience with the ambassador over the alleged death of their colleague in police custody.
They claimed the deceased was last seen in a police vehicle and later succumbed to injuries they claim were inflicted by law enforcement officers who had arrested him.
A video has been doing round of the man inside a police vehicle.
They claim that four Nigerians have been killed in the past month since the government launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants,
“They are killing us,” they agitated Nigerians chanted. It took the intervention of police officers from Kilimani Police station to calm the situation that was threatening to get out of hand.
They vowed to hold a similar protest on Thursday until their ambassador agrees to address their grievances with the Kenyan authorities.
Other than the killing, they say police have turned them into cash cows, in the name of a crackdown on illegal immigrants. “No one is spared. Whether you have genuine papers or not, they just need your money,” one of them, a university student who failed to give her name said.
“We are living in fear after the Interior Cabinet Secretary “Fred Matiangi) declared a crackdown on illegal immigrants. Police don’t want to follow the law,” another added.
Security guards manning the premises were overpowered by the agitated protesters who walked in and out at will claiming “this is our property. We must be heard.”
So far, the government has deported more than a hundred illegal immigrants since the crackdown, with those who failed to register afresh after the July 21 deadline being the target.
Some foreigners have been accused of engaging in criminal activities, which necessitated the operation.
To report illegal immigrants, Kenyans were asked to call 0745-660-151 by the Department of Immigration Services. According to Matiangi, Kenya spends Sh360 million annually to deport illegal immigrants