Dramatic arrest as Nakuru MP Gikaria clashes with police

Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria has been arrested in connection with a land row between him and former Mayor Mohammed Surraw.

According to area Deputy Police Commander Kirunya Limbitu, the MP resisted arrest and assaulted a police officer by ‘slapping him before he was prevailed upon’.

A video of the dramatic arrest has since emerged showing a man assumed to be MP Gikaria being forcefully carried onto an awaiting police vehicle.

The legislator was arrested on Saturday alongside over ten other suspects who had accompanied him to oversee the construction of stalls on the said land at Pipeline along the Nakuru-Nairobi Highway.

He is being held at one of the police stations in the county which the police boss declined to disclose.

In January this year, Gikaria was arrested and charged with eight counts of land fraud.

Previously in 2016, Gikaria was charged at a Nakuru Court with malicious damage to private property and stealing.

Also Read: Nakuru MP charged with Sh7m theft, damage of property

He and with others not before the court are said to have brought down a perimeter wall before stealing more than 30 wheelbarrows and other items, valued at over Ksh.7million.

On Saturday, Gikaria is said to have arrived in the wee hours of the morning accompanied by a group of youths to allegedly supervise construction of stalls on the half an acre piece of land.

This led to a confrontation between him and former Mayor Surraw which attracted the attention of area residents who were split on who actually owns the land.

Also Read: MP David Gikaria arrested, released on bail over land fraud

The standoff saw transport along the highway paralysed for a better part of the morning before the police arrived.

Police engaged demonstrators in running battles at Pipeline as they lobbed teargas in the air. Businesses were closed for over an hour as the operators scampered for safety.

Reports indicate that Nakuru East MCA James Humphrey Mwaniki is also being sought over claims that he also linked to the land scandal.