According to reports from Citizen TV, Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich was abducted by members of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ covert Operations Support Unit.
The details that have emerged paint a picture of how the journalist was handled after being taken.Kiprotich was moved from one police station to another without proper booking procedures.
He was taken between Richfield, Hazina and Industrial police stations. At no point during these transfers did the officers involved record him in the official station books.
The officers also refused to give their force numbers, making it harder to identify who exactly took part in the operation.This kind of movement without documentation raises serious questions about accountability.
When a person is held and transferred between stations without any official record, it becomes difficult for families, lawyers or even the courts to know where they are or under what authority they are being detained.
Withholding force numbers only adds to the lack of transparency.
Alex Kiprotich works as an associate editor at the Standard Group, one of Kenya’s major media houses. Journalists covering sensitive stories sometimes face pressure, but cases involving alleged abduction by specialised police units are particularly concerning.
The fact that the report comes from Citizen TV, another established media outlet, has drawn attention to the matter.
The Operations Support Unit is described as a covert wing of the DCI. Such units typically operate with a degree of secrecy, which can be useful for certain investigations but also creates room for actions that go outside normal police procedures.
Moving a person between stations without booking them and refusing to identify the officers involved sits outside the standard rules that govern arrests and detentions.
The absence of proper records and identification makes it harder to establish a clear chain of events.
The report stands as an account of how a senior journalist was allegedly taken and shifted between locations without the usual paperwork that should accompany any detention.
