Hundreds of Garissa residents and local leaders have called for swift investigations into the killing of a 22-year-old taxi driver at the Modika roadblock earlier on Tuesday morning, April 21, 2026.

According to the residents, the deceased, Aden Mohamed, was called by his two friends, Abdiaziz Dere and Abdullahi Mohamed, at around 2 am after they were handcuffed by police officers at the Modika roadblock so he could help secure their release.

After reaching the area, it is claimed that an argument erupted between the deceased and a police officer, who then shot him in the head at close range.

The residents took to the streets in the morning and engaged police in running battles during demonstrations over the incident, while calling for the arrest of the police officer said to have shot dead Mohamed.

Speaking at the Garissa police station, Ali Hassan, an uncle of the deceased, expressed his sorrow over how his nephew lost his life at the hands of those who are supposed to protect him, calling for the government to act on rogue security officers.

“We are very saddened that our police officers have turned into shifta and started killing Kenyans. We have always known that the police are here to protect the civilians but now we see they have turned on us with killings,” Hassan stated.

“This is the third killing incident by police officers in the last few months. A very young man, at only 22 years, has had his life cut short without reason. We are telling the government that this must change,” he added.

Abdirizak Sirat Noor, a close friend of the deceased, eulogised him as a caring friend who would not leave others in trouble and called on the government to handle the matters with the sensitivity it needs to protect the good relationship the people have had with the police in the last few years.

“The government that ought to protect us is killing us. This is not the first case, because there have been several other cases in the recent past,” Noor said.

“Our forefathers were not good friends of the police until President Kibaki took office. If these issues are not addressed by the government, we might go back to those times, when our relationship with police officers will not be good,” added Noor.

Garissa Woman Representative Udgood Siyad, who was joined by a host of members of the county assembly, called on the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to take stern action against the rogue security agents and bring them to book.

Udgood at the same time claimed there was a cover-up plot by security officials in the county, due to the disappearance of the police officer, whose whereabouts were still unknown at the time of the interview.

“As a mother who has a child the age of the deceased, I will not allow the killing of our young people to continue. We have been told that there is Al Shabaab in this town, but the police have now turned into Al Shabaab themselves,” Udgoon said.

“We are tired of saying ‘stop killing our people’. If this government is not serious about protecting our lives, then we will stop supporting it and join the opposition,” she added.

Regional commander sentiments

North Eastern Deputy Regional Police Commander John Matasi, however, refuted cover-up claims, noting that the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) had taken up the matter for investigations.

“Our officers were on patrol in the Modika area where the young man was shot dead. His body is at the Garissa Referral Hospital mortuary as we wait for a post-mortem to be done,” Matasi said.

“As you all know, when a civilian is shot by a police officer, the matter and investigations are taken over by the IPOA, and they are on the ground to investigate the incident,” he added.