Citizen TV journalist Odee Francis was reportedly arrested by police on Tuesday, October 20, while covering protests against high fuel prices along Kimathi Street in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD).
According to reports, the journalist was reportedly harassed and manhandled by police officers who moved in to arrest him as he covered demonstrators protesting the rising cost of fuel.
According to images seen by Whisperswire, a group of plainclothes officers could be seen dragging Odee along Kimathi Street near the junction with Kenyatta Avenue, a few metres from Sarova Stanley Hotel, before bundling him into a waiting police Land Cruiser.
Reports indicate that the arrest proceeded despite objections from members of the public and fellow journalists who pleaded with the officers to release Odee, pointing out that he was working as a journalist.
Odee was also seen appealing to the officers to allow him to continue with his assignment, but the pleas appeared to go unheeded as the officers proceeded with the arrest.
According to Citizen TV, Odee was covering demonstrations against the high cost of fuel in the Nairobi CBD when he was arrested.
The protests also saw police rough up activists who had taken to the streets to oppose the price increases.
