The family of businessman Jimi Wanjigi has detailed a harrowing 12-hour ordeal involving police officers who stormed their Muthaiga, Nairobi home on Thursday night.

Speaking to the press, Jimi Wanjigi’s son, Maina Wanjigi, recounted how the officers conducted two searches within two hours, one at 4:00 am and another at 6:00 am.

Maina described the first group of officers, who entered their home at 7:00 pm, as aggressive, assaulting his mother, sister, and himself. According to him, the masked officers, armed with assault rifles, ordered the family to lie on the floor and began kicking them in the head to force compliance.

Despite their lack of a search warrant, the family complied, allowing the officers to search the premises. The officers confiscated various items, including iPhones, iPads, house communication devices, and a fuel receipt.

The initial search continued until 4:00 am, after which the officers left. However, just two hours later, another group arrived to conduct a second search. Maina recounted the renewed terror:

"In brief, they came around 7:00 pm and forcefully broke the door. Personally, I was beaten up by five masked officers. Once they entered, they assaulted my sister and mother, asked them to lie down on the floor, kicked them in the heads, then from there we had no choice but to cooperate,” Maina said.

“They did a thorough search till about 4:00 am, and as a family, we thought it was over. Then at about 6:00 am, masked individuals came and dragged us out of bed, saying they wanted to search even more. Let’s say the current state we’re in now is that the power is cut, wifi is down, and we don’t know why they wanted to do two different searches.”

Wanjigi’s lawyer, Willis Otieno, alleged that the second team of officers engaged in theft, stealing jewelry, cash, and other valuables, which he termed an armed robbery rather than a police operation. Otieno suggested the raids were politically motivated, linked to Wanjigi’s opposition to the current government.

“In the process, they stole items and valuables belonging to the family members, disconnected power, and interfered with the systems. They carried valuables, watches, jewelry, money, and also conducted illegal searches in some of the cars, including my own car, and took files and money. It is quite unfortunate that what happened in the second team was not a police operation but an armed robbery against the family of Jimi Wanjigi for his political belief and stance,” Otieno stated.

Otieno also responded to Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli’s claims that officers retrieved teargas canisters, police communication gadgets, and smoke grenades from Wanjigi’s home. Otieno alleged that these items were planted by the officers to incriminate Wanjigi.

“They are claiming they discovered smoke grenades and jungle uniforms, but they are the ones who brought them. In fact, one of the people inside the home saw an officer carrying a blue bag with three items resembling mangoes—those were the smoke grenades. They came here to plant those things. They never allowed the family members to accompany them during the search,” he pointed out.

The family has since announced their intention to take the matter to court.