This archive report was first published on 20 April 2020.
On April 20, 2020, a bizarre incident unfolded in Nairobi when gospel artist Eko Dydda was arrested and detained by police at Kilimani station for allegedly violating the dusk-to-dawn curfew.
According to reports, Dydda was pounced on by officers at 7:10 pm after he rushed home to buy medicine for his wife, Sylvia Ayugi, who suffers from high blood pressure and facial palsy.
Police allegedly forced Dydda to leave his residential estate house to purchase the medicine, which he eventually found in the Nairobi CBD.
However, upon his return, Dydda was arrested and taken to Kilimani Police Station, where he was detained and later released after his wife paid a bribe of Sh10,000.
But the ordeal did not end there. The next day, Dydda was re-arrested and thrown into a cell, and he was later transferred to the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Mbagathi, where he was quarantined with 200 others and tested for Covid-19.
Police spokesperson Charles Owino has since called for responsible policing during the pandemic, urging officers to use their common sense and verify receipts from pharmacies.
However, Dydda and his wife claim they have been threatened with harsher punishment for recording the police's ordeal and sharing it on social media.
