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Victims of police brutality in last week’s anti-government demonstrations in Nyanza region have spoken out of the night of terror that left many nursing serious injuries.

In Kisumu county alone, at least five people were confirmed dead while hundreds of others nursing serious injuries including gunshot wounds at various hospitals in the region.

A form four student Castro Ochieng, 18, who was shot and wounded by the police in Nyalenda estate in Kisumu recounted his ordeal on the fateful night.

“I thank God, because they used rubber bullets on me, and still caused grievous harm to my body. Had it been live bullets my story would be different now,’’ he said amid sobs.

Ochieng says he was unconscious only to wake up at the Jaramogi Odinga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), on Saturday morning.
He does not know who took him there. “I woke up in a hospital bed, writhing in pain. But I want to thank God for saving my life,’’ he narrated from his hospital bed.

Ochieng is one of the victims of brutality meted by police on residents of Kisumu and other counties in Nyanza region during last week’s three day protests over the high cost of living.

The form four student at Olembo secondary school was not in class as the government had ordered schools in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu closed as a cautionary measure citing intelligence information that criminals would disrupt learning.

He was among the many youth nursing injuries in the lakeside city following the security operation mounted to flush out the organisers of the violent protests that rocked the county during the three days.

Another victim, Evans Odhiambo, 34, also narrated how he met his fate at the hands of the law enforcers as he walked home from work that fateful evening.

His brother Vincent Omondi said he Odhiambo was shot in the waist and hand.
By Saturday 2pm, Odhiambo had not been taken to the theatre for the bullets to be removed since there were so many patients coming in who needed medical attention.

Deeply saddened

“As a family, we were deeply saddened by the incident. We appeal to the police to stop using excessive force,” Omondi said, noting that those who were involved in the shooting were in plain clothes.
Brighton Ochieng, 18, suffered twelve bullet wounds after reportedly being shot at Nyalenda area.

“All the 12 bullets have been removed and he is being stabilised. We are hoping that he will be fine,” said a medic at the hospital.

Out of eighteen people admitted at the facility on Friday, one of them was a clinical officer from the facility who was shot in his house in Carwash area but is currently in a stable condition.

Doctors at JOOTRH said most of victims of police shootings had injuries on the arms, chest and legs.
“The important thing to note is that most of these casualties who were having gunshot had between two to twelve gunshots with majority having between eight and nine gunshots,” the medic said.

On Thursday, the hospital management said it received four fatalities and fifteen seriously injured people, all suspected to have been inflicted by the police.

Out of the four deaths, two died in the hospital while being treated while two others were brought in by police officers already dead.

On Friday, the facility received 18 casualties and two fatalities. Of the two fatalities, one body was brought in by police and one person died in the casualty while being attended to.
According to records, the victims were shot at Kachok, Manyatta, Nyawita, Obunga, Nyamasaria and Ofunyu areas.

Dr Godfrey Hamati, a medical doctor at the facility who was attending to the patients said that among the victims were two brothers who were rushed to the facility in critical condition but could not be admitted in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as it was full.

Specialised treatment

He said that they also received a case of a person who was shot in the chin and needs specialised treatment which is not available in the local health facilities.

“The person needs a maxillofacial surgeon to operate on him which the county does not have,” he said.
Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Kisumu branch officials led by Dorcas Oluoch claimed that 20 people had filed cases against police brutality with various law firms.

Some lawyers, she said had agreed to offer pro bono services to the victims of police brutality.
At the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital, we met three survivors nursing injuries on various parts of their bodies.

The victims sustained the injuries in Rongo town, Migori county on Thursday evening.
Lameck Owuor, a 28-year-old man who was shot in the neck, is happy to be alive even though in excruciating pain.

Owuor, a resident Rongo town could not utter any word after being shot in the neck during the protests on Thursday evening.

He suffered abnormal swelling in his mouth and neck.

The hospital records indicated that he was shot in the neck, causing a fracture in his lower jaw.
The swelling of the mouth continued to worsen, putting him in dire need of specialised medication.

Homa Bay County Referral Hospital Chief Executive Officer Peter Ogola said they were planning to transfer him to Kisii County Hospital for specialised medication.

Ogolla noted that the swelling was putting his life in danger and could interfere with his respiratory system.

“We want to refer him to a specialist in Kisii,” Ogolla said.

Another survivor Derick Otieno, 18, a resident of Rongo sustained a bullet injury on the upper right arm.
Otieno said he was shot on his way home from his workplace.

“I was trekking from where I work when i met the police who were containing protestors. I suddenly realized I had been shot,” Otienor recalled.