Eko Dydda put into forced quarantine after wife recorded a video of police harassing them

Piece by: Peninah Njoki
Entertainment

Sylvia Dydda wife to gospel artiste Ekko Dydda is calling for justice over police harassment after her husband was forced into quarantine.

According to the mother of two, her husband was arrested while going to buy her medication.

In a long detailed Facebook post Silvya wrote

'My name is Sylvia Dydda. I have been unwell since January. I have high blood pressure and a high heart pulse that has led to facial palsy and other complications that have affected my mobility.

I am not able to walk properly. I am taking BP meds and neuro care for the nerves.

On Saturday, my medicines ran out and my husband, Eko Dydda, father to our two amazing kids decided to go buy them.

He went to a pharmacy near our neighborhood, in the late afternoon, but he couldn't find the medication.

He then decided to drive to Nairobi CBD where he found and bought the medication. On his way home, he got a puncture at around 6:30pm and by the time he had fixed it, it was about 6:50pm.

He continued with the journey home and on reaching Ngong Road, near Coptic Hospital, he found a police road block at around 7:10pm.

He was stopped and arrested.

The police had commissioned a breakdown truck and every car that violated the curfew was being towed to Kilimani Police Station.

The car owner was then put in a police vehicle and driven to the Police Station.'

Sylvia added that what she did not know is that their problems were just beginning.

'On reaching the Police Station, Eko was booked in the cells. My medicine was left inside the car.

Early Sunday morning, my neighbor took me to the Police Station because I could not walk properly.

On arrival, the officer manning the Occurrence Book asked if l had money to pay bail for my husband, following which he would be required to appear at Milimani Court on Monday.

I think I asked too many questions, as l pleaded his case, because they eventually told me to get out of the Police Station and only return when I had the money. I

went outside for a bit and then went back in to ask if I could pay via m-pesa. The officer replied, "toka hapa, enda leta cash” (Get out and go come with cash). I was secretly recording our conversation.'

After paying the bail, she was then told to pay towing fees

'I left again to go and withdraw Ksh10,000, then returned and gave the officer the requested bail of Ksh5,000.

I wasn’t aware that he had noticed I had recorded him, so he told me, "Leta pesa ndio nikuandikie receipt"

(Give me the money so I can give you a receipt). I gave him the Ksh5,000 cash and he started opening drawers

So I thought he was looking for a receipt book. He took out a brown envelope, put the money inside and told me, "Enda nje" (Go outside), then he chased me out of his office.

After waiting for an hour, he brought Eko out from the cells, handed him the receipt and told him to go pay the towing charges to the breakdown vehicle operators, since it was they who had his car keys.

We found the breakdown vehicle people behind the toilets. I found that weird. I told them l would only pay them if l got a receipt.

They referred me to a female police officer who came, picked the Ksh5,000 cash and then took me to a shop inside the police station and gave me a receipt, after I requested it.

I asked her for the car keys and she told me that they were with the officer to whom l had paid the cash bail and who had lied to me that the breakdown vehicle guys had them.

Eko went to get the keys and as I was waiting for him, I heard one of the officers saying,

"Hii mama imetu record hajui tuna weza poteza hii mutu yake." (This woman recorded us and she doesn’t know we can make her man disappear.) We got into our car and drove off.'

She further added

'On our way home, Eko received two phone calls asking us to go back and collect the car. Eko told the caller he’d already picked the car.

Then they asked him about the receipt for the bail and Eko told them he had collected the receipt as well.

That was around 9:30am. The caller’s phone number was 0721254408 and his name, according to m-pesa, is James Samira.

We arrived home and Eko showered and slept. The police, however, kept calling. We ignored their calls.

Eko received calls from four different numbers calling from Kilimani, one of them from a female officer.

She told Eko that someone who was in the cells with him had died and he should go back to record a statement. They gave him a number (0756479296) to call when he arrived.

While on the call, we overheard someone say, “Hii mtu pekee ndio umepea receipt, hii ni shida." (You issued a receipt to one person, this is problematic).

We arrived back at the station at around 12:30pm. Eko was re-arrested and they took back the receipts they had given us.

Luckily, l had taken pictures.

The officer who had issued us with the bail told us to take back our money because the bail had been cancelled by the boss.

Out of all the people who had been arrested that evening, we were the only ones who had insisted on being issued with a receipt.'

Eko Dydda was then taken to a quarantine centre at KMTC

'Eko had left me outside the Police Station and when l went inside to follow up on what was going on.

l was told that since I had recorded them, they were going to teach my husband a lesson.

“This is Eko Dydda, the President gave artists Ksh100 million, he will vomit this money”, one officer told me.

The OCS came and ordered his officers to take Eko to “that place.” I didn’t know where “that place” was but, later in the day, Eko called and informed me that he had been taken to the quarantine center at KMTC.

He told me there were about 200 people there. He was given a blanket and a bed.

Up until now, no tests have been taken and he was told the tests would be done on the day they were supposed to get discharged.

l went to KMTC Mbagathi, where l met the officers who had taken Eko there. They told me, “Eko paid us Ksh10,000 and insisted on a receipt.

Now he will pay the government Ksh28,000.” They went on to say, “Where do you think our money will come from? It comes from the citizens.

I will teach him a lesson. The police officer in Kilimani stopped about 50 motorists on Saturday night but only your husband is giving us problems.

If you share the video, we will come, arrest you with your children and take you to quarantine.”