{{Eighty two aliens have been deported to Somalia in the ongoing crackdown following increased terror threats.}}
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku says 102 suspects are still being detained for further interrogation at the Safaricom Kasarani Stadium which has now been gazetted into a police station.
Those being detained there were previously moved to police stations in the night but will now be held at the stadium throughout after its gazettement.
“Those who have refugee documents are taken back to their respective camps, while those who are found to have broken the law, are taken to court.”
He said police are currently holding a total of 472 people in other police stations.
“The operation will continue within the law and so far, there are no reported cases of people being mishandled,” he affirmed. “This is not a place of incarceration.”
The Cabinet Secretary who was accompanied by Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said the terror crackdown will go on despite protests from politicians, envoys and humanitarian organisations which have been denied access to the stadium.
During a controlled visit for the media and human right activists, he refuted claims of police harassing those detained, saying they were being handled professionally.
“As a Government we are very concerned when we hear individuals implying that what is going on is not within the law, we have gazetted this place as a police station where screening of those who have been arrested in the swoop are taken,” he said.
“Police have clear instructions that they will work in a professional way. That’s why we have invited you here to tell the truth.”
There was a scramble as more than 50 local and international journalists went through the process to ascertain the condition of those who were arrested. “You want to cause a stampede?” Ole Lenku at some point posed.
“The event has received coverage almost similar to what was happening during inauguration of President Uhuru Kenyatta, there are too many (journalists),” an officer manning the entry said.
Inside, there is a room for officials from the Immigration Department and the National Police Service involved in the screening process.
The room has computers and other electronic gadgets meant to establish identification documents that are genuine.
One of the women arrested, an Ethiopian who was at the service desk when we visited said, “they are saying my documents are okay, I’m now in the final stage. I am a refugee…I don’t know whether they will take me back to my country.”
Asked whether she would like to go back to her home country, she shook her head in the negative, with teary eyes.
Outside the room, those arrested queue waiting for their turn to be served.
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