DIG Lagat To Record Statement Over Ojwang’s Death

NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 12 – The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has announced that all individuals linked to the arrest, transfer, and detention of the late Albert Ojwang, including Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat will record statements as investigations into his death in police custody intensify.

Speaking before the National Assembly’s National Security and Internal Administration committee, IPOA Chairperson Issack Hassan disclosed that eventually the Deputy Inspector General will be summoned for a statement once the scope of the investigation widens.

“Yes, we were going to summon him, but our team, our technical team, the investigators, said that they would have preferred to take all statements from all the policemen involved, before they can now confront him, and him being the final person who made the complaint. And I think it is probably much better that way,”Hassan expressed.

IPOA has revealed that all 17 police officers involved in the arrest, transportation, and detention of the late Albert Ojwang are now considered murder suspects with active investigations ongoing.

Also on the trail are two civilians including detainees who were present  during the arrest of Ojwang who have already written statement as part of the supporting evidence on the ongoing investigations.

The house team was told that the institution is preparing to arrest at least three officers linked to Ojwang’s death and is currently engaging the Inspector General (IG) of Police to facilitate the process.

  “We have taken a statement from all the police officers who had gone to arrest the late Ojuang from Homabay, all of them. We have also taken a statement from the officers who were in the Central Police Station from the OCS. There were 17 in total for the whole day and night shift,”he stated.

Hassan assured the house team that any non-cooperation by police officers in the ongoing and subsequent investigations will attract ruthless action, including prosecution, for trying to block investigations.

“And we have taken the decision as a board that going forward, any non-cooperation by the police or command officers, there is an offence under the IPOA Act. We are going to start prosecuting them for non-cooperation, for blocking investigations, or for trying to cover-up anything,”

Ojwang, a Migori resident , was arrested on June 7, 2025, by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) following a complaint by Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat regarding a social media post.

The social media influencer and teacher was later transferred to Central Police Station in Nairobi. He was pronounced dead the following day at Mbagathi Hospital, with his body showing signs of extensive trauma.

Post-mortem results revealed that Ojwang died of blunt force trauma to the head, neck compression, and multiple subcutaneous bruises, discrediting earlier police claims that he died by repeatedly hitting himself against a cell wall.

Hassan dismissed the suicide claims by the National Police Service (NPS) terming it as a ‘poor attempt at cover-up’ affirming the independent institution commitment to unravel the truth on the murder of Ojwang.

 “On the issue of whether there are disappearance or criminal proceedings against officers involved, we are still conducting investigations. We have not yet completed, but we are very close to,”

“I want to assure the committee and through the committee to the public that IPOA is not going to be used as a fire extinguisher to extinguish all fires which are generating from police misconduct,”the IPOA Chairperson stated.Investigations have revealed that the CCTV system in the OCS office at Central Police Station had been interfered with on the morning of June 8, just hours before Ojwang’s death was reported. The DVR had been reformatted, and power cables were deliberately disconnected, raising further suspicion of a coordinated cover-up.

“We are not going to be used as a cover-up. We are going to talk to everyone who was involved with this matter, get all the evidence, and recommend prosecution of anyone who is involved in this death. No matter their station,” the IPOA Chairperson stated.

The authority has also gathered critical forensic evidence, including blood samples, police occurrence book records (OB), and CCTV footage, and is awaiting the results of toxicology and DNA analysis from government chemists.

 ”I myself also went to the police station, central police station. And I also went and saw the cell where the young man was killed. There was a lot of blood on the floor and blood on the walls. It’s a scene that has stayed in my mind. It’s a very bad scene that I saw,”Hassan told MPs.

IPOA is calling for urgent reforms in the handling of detainees, including the mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in corridors leading to cells, the use of body cameras by officers, and improved public access to police reporting systems.

The authority is also pushing for amendments to the police training curriculum to emphasize human rights and accountability in policing.

“We have to respect the rights of the prisoners, of course, but still, at the corridor of the cells, we need to have CCTV cameras. We also need to have the OB, the occurrence book, available, public access, we are able to follow where there are any injuries which are inputted by those who are mischievous,”Hassan stated.