Walking home in the early hours of Sunday, three friends believed they had already survived the worst the night could offer.

Hours earlier, Shukri Adan, Wycliff Nyakwama and Festus Mutinda had escaped a violent confrontation at Imara Daima, Nairobi, after a matatu collided with the vehicle they were using. What started as an exchange of details quickly turned hostile. The matatu driver and conductor, sensing the trio was vulnerable, called in other crews. Within minutes, the scene spiralled into chaos, with stones flying and threats mounting.

Fearing they would be overwhelmed, the three young men jumped back into their car and sped off, narrowly escaping the mob that had formed around them.

Shaken but relieved, they drove to what they believed was a safer point—the Mukuru Community Centre—where they parked and called the vehicle owner to explain what had happened. Once the issue of the car was settled, they chose to walk the remaining short distance home. Their houses were less than 300 metres away. They thought the danger had passed.

It had not.

A few minutes into the walk, the trio encountered two police officers—now identified as Sergeant Godwin Mujomba and Constable Patrick Mutuma.

According to accounts obtained by the Nation, the officers ordered the three men to lie down and warned them not to move. Mr Nyakwama was instructed to step away from his two friends, separating him from Adan and Mutinda.

Terrified and confused, the young men pleaded with the officers, insisting they had done nothing wrong and begging not to be harmed.

Then, in a moment that would define the family’s grief and fuel public anger, shots rang out.

“In the commotion, Adan moved suddenly. And that is when the shots were fired, and he died,” the Nation was told.

A report by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) states that one of the officers discharged his firearm, fatally wounding Adan. Postmortem results later confirmed that he died from a head injury caused by a single gunshot. He was buried hours later at Lang’ata Muslim Cemetery.

For Adan’s family, the official findings only deepened the pain, leaving them with questions they say have no satisfactory answers.

His father, Adan Ibrahim, demanded justice, saying his son was killed without provocation and had never had any case with police.

“He had done nothing. Why would they be ordered to lie flat on the ground and, after complying, still be shot without committing any crime? My son has never had a case with the police. Why did they shoot him? I want justice for my son,” he said.

His mother, Sadia Adorob, said she could not speak at length about her son’s sudden death, but insisted that even if he had committed an offence, the law provided clear procedures.

“If he had done something wrong, he should have been arrested, taken to court, and, if found guilty, sentenced according to the law. He should not have been executed on the street,” she said.

What has compounded the family’s anguish is the timing of the death. Adan was set to start what his relatives describe as a new chapter of life: he was due to enrol at a heavy machinery operations school in Thika on January 12, 2026. The family says they had been saving for his fees, determined to equip him with skills that would secure his livelihood.

“I was to enrol him on Monday to study heavy machinery operation, including excavators, in Thika. But before this dream became a reality, I hear my son has been shot dead for no reason. This is injustice of the highest level,” Mr Ibrahim said.

Adan’s aunt, Abdia Huka, said the family remains devastated, insisting he had no criminal record and had complied with the officers’ orders.

“We are pained. We are inconsolable. Adan’s death is extremely painful. There were only two children in that family—Adan and his younger sister, who is still in high school. Justice must prevail,” she said.

The two officers were presented in court as Ipoa sought more time to complete investigations. While the authority requested 21 days, the court granted 14 days, allowing detectives to finalise the investigation diary and prepare committal bundles for the capital offence of murder. The suspects are being held at Capitol Hill Police Station under OB number 30/11/1/2026.

In court, the magistrate noted that the shooting triggered protests and destructive demonstrations, with members of the public demanding justice.

The magistrate also observed that there were initial attempts to conceal the incident before Ipoa took over the case. In a statement, Ipoa said it had commenced investigations, obtained relevant police documents, and recorded both witness and police statements.

Ipoa chairperson Ahmed Issack Hassan urged calm, saying the authority was working to complete investigations efficiently while maintaining fairness and independence.

As the investigation continues, Adan’s family says their demand is simple: speed, transparency, and accountability—so that a young man who was walking home, just 300 metres from safety, does not become another statistic filed away without consequence.