Five Kenyan police officers were dragged into court on Wednesday, facing serious accusations of abetting a jail break that allowed a notorious suspected serial killer and 12 others to flee from a Nairobi police station, according to court documents.
Prosecutors are pushing to keep the officers behind bars for two weeks while they dig deeper into the officers’ alleged role in the brazen escape. They need more time to gather statements, sift through CCTV footage, and scrutinize the officers’ phones for any damning evidence.
The jailbreak’s most infamous fugitive, Collins Jumaisi, was arrested just last month for the gruesome murders of at least six women, their bodies found grotesquely wrapped in plastic bags at a derelict quarry-turned-dumping ground. Jumaisi allegedly confessed to slaughtering 42 women, including his own wife, although his lawyer claims the confession was beaten out of him, a claim that prosecutors flatly deny.
Police, in an attempt to save face, have pointed the finger at internal collusion, stating that preliminary findings indicate insiders played a key role in the escape.
A frantic manhunt is now underway to recapture the escapees, whose disappearance was discovered early Tuesday morning when officers found an empty cell and a cut wire mesh window, an amateurish yet ( you can say) successful route to freedom.
It seems Kenya’s law enforcement has more to explain than just a botched security operation.
