CCTV footage played in court has shown how schoolteacher Albert Ojwang’ entered the Central Police Station alive and walking on the night of June 6, 2025, only to be carried out unresponsive hours later, evidence that prosecutors say supports a murder case against seven accused persons.
The footage, presented in court by Joshua Mutua, head of forensics at the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), traced Ojwang’s movements from his arrival at the station in a DCI-owned Subaru Outback at 9.23pm to the moment his body was loaded into a police vehicle at 1.20am the following day.
Ojwang’ had been detained over allegations that he defamed Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat. Mutua told the court that recordings from both the Central Police Station and Mbagathi captured the full sequence of events as presented by the prosecution.
“As per the footage, we will demonstrate that Ojwang’ arrived while able to walk within the station and is seen making phone calls. By the time he left the station, he was unresponsive,” he said.
Mutua explained that although the cameras recorded everyone who passed through the station that night, investigators had narrowed their focus to 16 individuals connected to Ojwang’s arrest, detention and eventual removal from the cells. Ten of them were station personnel, while six were the officers who escorted him in the black Subaru. “As per the footage, you’ll see many people because the camera does not discriminate who to capture but we have persons of interest. I will be referring to alphabets and I want to attach names to them so that the court appreciates the footage,” Mutua told the court.
Those now charged with his murder are Officer Commanding Station Samson Talaam, PC James Mukhwana, PC Peter Kimani, PC John Ngige, Gin Ammitou Abwao and Brian Muriuki.
Timeline of the night
According to the footage, the station is divided into a front office with two cubicles, a report desk for petty crimes, a search area, a store for detainees’ belts and shoes, and a holding section with separate cells for men and women, alongside a shared toilet.
Activity at the station began building hours before Ojwang’s arrival. At 5.32pm, Mukhwana, dressed in blue trousers and a striped bomber jacket, was seen at the front office. By 7.04pm, Mukhwana and PC Samuel Ng’ang’a entered Talaam’s office; Mukhwana left six minutes later for the parking area. Kimani appeared at 7.29pm, followed shortly by Mukhwana’s return, and then by PC Everlyn Kanyiri, who joined Kimani and another woman.
Talaam left the front office at 8.04pm. Two minutes later, a man with a goatee arrived at the gate on a motorbike and was seen conversing with Mukhwana. At 8.14pm, Kimani, Mukhwana and Kanyiri gathered in the first cubicle for eight minutes, after which Mukhwana spoke with a man in a Gatsby-labelled cap and yellow T-shirt, later identified as Ngige, handing him what appeared to be a padlock.
Kimani and Mukhwana were then seen talking for nearly 20 minutes at the holding bay, before carrying out what looked like a handover lasting 23 minutes. Kimani was also observed calling out prisoners, separating women and men.
At 9.19pm, Mukhwana spoke to Ngige while pointing at a window. A black SUV arrived three minutes later. Mukhwana checked the front office window before heading to the cells, where Ngige opened the first cell and called out a tall man, Gin Ammitou Abwao. The three went to a cell near the toilet- described in court as the “Ojwang’ cell”- before the two officers returned to the holding bay.
Ojwang’ arrived at the station at 9.23pm, dressed in a blue sports jersey, beige trousers and beige open shoes, accompanied by six men. One of them handed him a red jumper and loosened his handcuffs while he remained on a phone call. He was escorted to the front office, where he sat for 15 minutes before being joined by Kimani and Mukhwana, after which the vehicle that brought him left.
Four minutes later, Sergeant Steven Sigei made a phone call as Ojwang’ and the two men who had brought him stood beside Kimani. Sigei then passed his phone to Mukhwana, who spoke on it briefly before returning it.
Abwao entered the Ojwang’ cell at 9.34pm and left four minutes later. Ngige then visited the same cell for two minutes. A man in a Maasai shuka, black trench coat and yellow T-shirt was seen patrolling the cell corridor, while a man in a white hoodie- whom Mutua identified as Abwao- left a cell, spoke to Ngige and headed towards Ojwang’s cell.
Mukhwana and the goatee man later moved to the station’s changing room, a separate block, before re-emerging in civilian clothing- Mukhwana now in a striped bomber jacket, black trousers, white T-shirt and black cap, and the goatee man in a grey jacket, black cap and white sneakers. Kimani joined them at the search area, and Mukhwana was later seen pulling Kanyiri aside for a four-minute conversation.
At 10.43pm, Mukhwana and the goatee man moved to the cell nearest the toilet, then returned to the waiting bay, where Kimani opened and subsequently relocked the door following a brief exchange.
Ngige was then seen running along the cell corridor towards the holding bay, and at 10.46pm, four people- including Mukhwana, the goatee man and another individual labelled No.18- were seen hurriedly dragging Ojwang’ towards what has been described in the crime scene evidence.
Elsewhere in the corridor, a remandee in a nearby cell was seen covering the grille with a rug, appearing to block the light. Inside that cell, a short man with dreadlocks, later identified as Brian Muriuki, was seen climbing to peer through the window grille.
By around 10.47pm, activity around the Ojwang’ cell intensified. A man was seen carrying a small yellow jerrycan to the toilet and back to the cell- a figure resembling Ngige was linked to this movement- before returning to the scene with another man. The Maasai shuka-clad individual also went to the scene, now wearing a yellow reflector jacket with the hood up, followed by a short man in grey trousers, a navy-blue T-shirt and a white hooded jacket, his head covered and face lowered.
Ngige and Mukhwana later entered the scene, with one of them using a phone to check inside the cell before both left for the holding bay. Muriuki was also seen at the scene alongside Mukhwana, the goatee man and Ngige.
At 12.21am, Ng’ang’a entered the cell while on a phone call and walked to the parking bay, still talking. Three minutes later, Ngige and the Maasai shuka man returned to the cell. Thirteen minutes after that, four uniformed male officers wearing gloves arrived at the scene.
Talaam then appeared with three other officers- two men and a woman- before leaving and speaking with a glove-wearing officer at the holding bay. He returned shortly after with four officers, all wearing gloves, who picked up Ojwang’s unresponsive body. The man in the Maasai shuka followed behind, wiping what prosecutors alleged were bloodstains from the floor.
A Land Cruiser arrived with two officers and was reversed with its rear door opened to block the building’s entrance. At the holding area, Talaam held the officers’ guns and handed one of them additional gloves before they exited. Ojwang’s unresponsive body was placed into the vehicle at 1.20am on June 7, 2025.
The hearing continues before the High Court in Kibera.
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