Three people were on Saturday arrested in Nairobi’s Buru Buru estate after Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko stopped demolition of a City Church.
The demolition was carried out by armed youths who had been hired by a private developer.
Police officers from Buru Buru police station accompanied the youth.
Sonko now wants Inspector General of Police to take action against the police officers from Buru Buru who accompanied the armed youths to demolish the church and school.
Sonko stormed the location after receiving a distress call from members of the church who were being forcefully evicted by the hired youths.
During the incident three members of the hired goons were arrested by police and crude weapons including pangas recovered.
Speaking after securing the church which also houses a school for over 300 kids, Governor Sonko vowed to ensure justice is done to stop grabbing of the land where the church is built.
“This is a heinous act. Where on earth can one demolish a church! We cannot allow this to happen in Nairobi. We must respect human beings regardless of their status whether rich or poor, “the Governor said.
Six worshippers who were injured are recuperating in hospital.
“I want to assure all Nairobians that no land will be grabbed under my watch. No matter how rich one is or how well connected he is. We must respect all people” he said.
The Governor has said the man behind the grabbing of the church is a well-known land grabber who is using court orders to take over parcels of land in Nairobi.
“Mr. Patrick Livondo has several cases of land grabbing and we will take action against him. He even instructed the hired goons to attack us but we managed to contain them,” Sonko said.
Speaking at the scene, Joan Ocholah Oketch who is one of the owners of the church accused her sister of scheming with the private developer who wants to take over the property.
“We are the original trustees of this property dubbed Glad-Tidings, but my sister went to the Land s Ministry and removed our names as owners of the land, but the matter is now before court. Our mother who is also a trustee is very sick because of this matter,” Oketch said.
“The Glad Tidings Crusade Ministry was registered in 1975 and we acquired the property which is roughly one acre in 1979, but the tittle under the name of the Ministry was registered in 1984,” She said.
Florence Mwaura who is a Principal at the school said she reported the case at Buruburu police station on Saturday morning under OB number OB 9/25/52019 after the armed youths stormed the church compound and started demolishing structures.
“We leased the premises for 10 years from the Glad Tidings Crusade Ministry and they allowed us to put temporary structures for the last 7 years and we wonder how the alleged owners acquired the property” Mwaura said.
The arrested suspects, Stephen Ouma, Alex Matheka and Peter Mulama are expected to be arraigned in court on Monday.