River Yala diver Nicholas Okero has made damning allegations against security officers after he blew the whistle on dead bodies being disposed of at the river.
Speaking to the media, Oketo claimed that he had been warned against speaking to the press and human rights groups over the controversial issue that sparked nationwide protest.
He stated that some law enforcers in Yala cautioned him to be careful as there were plans to implicate him in the tragedy of the mysterious bodies.
Okero claimed that an officer in Yala, Gem sub-county, called him to collect his wages for retrieving bodies but was also asked to surrender his phone.
He alleged that he was directed to a different office at the DCI in Yala, where another officer asked him to drop his phone on the table and wait outside.'
“Immediately, the officer joined about 15 other people in the next office where they held a meeting until 3 p.m. Among the 15 people were my area chief, assistant chief and officials from Nairobi.
“The person who gave me information said I have to be careful with the interviews I have been doing with media and human rights activists because his senior colleagues were not impressed,” the diver was quoted by the Standard.
Okero stated that a homicide officer became hostile towards him and forced him to record a statement to detail the nature of his job.
"He claimed that I was being suspected of hiding bodies in Ndanu falls. They insisted that I record a statement explaining my role in the dead bodies mystery. It is then that one police officer confided in me on threats to my life that I decided to go into hiding," Okero claimed.
But Siaya County Commander Michael Muchiri says there is no reason for concern stating that Okero had been working well with his officers and the police would not threaten someone so instrumental.
There was a public uproar after reports emerged that 19 unidentified bodies had been retrieved from River Yala in a span of three months.
Using the hashtag #RiverYalaBodies, Kenyans took to social media to raise concern over the reports as they asked Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai to investigate the matter.
The report was first aired by human rights activist Boniface Mwangi through a social media thread on his official Twitter after he visited the River together with Hussein Khalid of Haki Africa.
