Kenyans have expressed mixed reactions on a footage that has gone viral, whereby a police officer is seen shooting dead a suspected criminal in the full glare of the public at Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate.
The young man is alleged to be part of a notorious armed gang that has been terrorizing residents around Eastleigh and its environs and in the footage, a body of another fallen gang member can be seen lying on the ground, he had apparently suffered the same fate before the eye witness recorded the clip.

The young man is alleged to be part of a notorious armed gang that has been terrorizing residents around Eastleigh and its environs and in the footage, a body of another fallen gang member can be seen lying on the ground, he had apparently suffered the same fate before the eye witness recorded the clip.

Ironically, most views aired by Kenyans appear to be in support of the police action with majority saying that; “those who live by the gun should die by the gun”. Perhaps wananchi are so fed with the rising cases of insecurity basically a broken criminal justice system, which sees criminals released as they are arrested.

Below are some of the reactions shared on social media with regards to the Eastleigh extra-judicial killings:

Atanas‏: Our Cops shouldn’t negotiate with thugs. I support the ongoing operations to flush out Gangsters in Nairobi areas like Eastleigh.

Josamu™ ‏: Until you’re robbed, attacked by thugs you won’t really understand why some of us are congratulating police officers in Eastleigh. Kudos!

J masibili‏#: Eastleigh gangs, anyone blaming the government is very ignorant. The murdered boys were barely out of their adolescence, parents are to blame.

Jacktone Ombuya‏: Your opinion of the Eastleigh shootings will probably depend on if you have been robbed at gunpoint/knife-point before or not.

deryque deryc‏: That gang at Eastleigh ,killed my great friend after spending a whole Sunday in church with him.

renegade‏: I support the Eastleigh incident whether innocent or not; infact, these cops should be given a mandatory target of four per person per day.

Double C‏: #Eastleigh We blame police for not doing their job and liasing with criminals. Now that they have we are throwing tantrums.

Becky Moraa‏: #Eastleigh I can’t believe people are sympathizing with criminals wait until they stub you to death cause of a stupid phone!

Reuben Makenzi‏: i can volunteer to kill robbers like police did in Eastleigh, if you are a victim you know what i’m talking about

Sam Gichuru‏Verified: The question is not if the kids in Eastleigh were guilty, it’s what stops the same policeman from executing you or your child?

Paul Macharia‏: The criminal justice system is broken. Let’s fix that before judging the cops harshly.
Boinnet Condemns Eastleigh Extra-Judicial Killings

IG Condemns Eastleigh Extra-Killings

Inspector General of POLICE (IG) Joseph Boinnet has condemned the killings and called for an investigation into the incident.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) is also investigating the killings.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has called for action against the officers involved.

Extra-Judicial Killings on the Rise

Kenya takes the lead in Africa as the country with the highest number of extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the police according to a recent report by Amnesty International.

According to the 2016/17 report by Amnesty International, 122 cases of extrajudicial killings had been reported by October 2016, noting that the number could be higher since there is no official database of such cases.

Another report released in In October last year by The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) revealed that 64 Kenyans died in police custody between January and April 2016. 53 of them were allegedly executed while the rest (11) died in unclear circumstances.