Police officer arrested over shooting of civilian during Kenya protest

A Kenyan police officer has been arrested over the shooting of an unarmed civilian on Tuesday during protests in the capital Nairobi touched off by the death of a blogger in police custody, a police spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, a video aired on Kenyan broadcaster Citizen Television's X account showed two policemen repeatedly striking a man on the head before one of them fired at him with a long-barrelled gun as he tried to walk away.

The man fell to the ground as people in the crowd shouted: "You have killed him."

Another video aired on the Nation newspaper's website featured a witness saying the shooting victim was selling face masks and was not a protester.

Reuters could not independently verify the two videos.

Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said an officer who fired his anti-riot gun at a civilian had been arrested.

"Following this incident, the Inspector-General [of the] National Police Service ordered the immediate arrest and arraignment in court of the involved officer," Nyaga said in a statement.

Protests have erupted in Nairobi, Mombasa and several smaller towns over the death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang in police detention, which re-inflamed long-standing accusations of extrajudicial killings by security forces.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had recorded 21 other injuries ranging from gunshot wounds, head cuts, whip lashes, blunt trauma and asthma attacks from inhaling teargas in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties.