Tears, insults, fights,blood and drama that marked Miguna's return to Kenya as second attempt to deport him flops
Mr Miguna was forcefully whisked to the aircraft by a contingent of about 40 police officers in full view of ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The international airport ranked among the best in the continent was for hours turned into a lawless jungle with scenes replete of a banana republic with the media coming under attack from 'rogue' police officers.
The late night drama was the culmination of a nine-hour standoff that started immediately the self-declared general and Kenyan vocal lawyer Miguna Miguna touched down at JKIA abound flight EK 719 at about 2.30pm on Monday.
“I am not boarding, I am not boarding I am not going anywhere….where is my luggage? Where is my passport? You cannot take me from my country by force,” A visibly angry Miguna thundered as the commotion delayed Flight EK 722 with over 400 passengers bound for Dubai.
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A battalion of police officers had forced Mr Miguna into the flight in a bid to deport him for the second time to Dubai.
But Mr Miguna armed with the court orders refused to board the Dubai-bound Emirates flight, saying he won’t leave his country of birth.
“They want to take me to Dubai.... I am not going, they say they want to remove me by force but they would have to kill me first. I am a Kenyan by birth...."
Mr Miguna had been forcefully whisked to the aircraft by a contingent of about 40 police officers in full view of ODM leader Raila Odinga and his lawyers John Khaminwa, Cliff Ombeta and Julie Soweto.
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Mr. Odinga had gone to the airport to try and release him without sucesss.
As this was going on leaders allied to the opposition and his supporters continued to camp at the facility demanding Mr. Miguna be released immediately.
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As the media continued to capture the unfolding drama, another group of officers laid siege at the airport, beat up journalists to scare them from capturing the drama.
An NTV cameraman was injured after a General Service Unit officer clubbed him several times as he ran away with his camera.
The officer pursued and kicked the journalist several times before screams from other journalists scared him away.
Also to be beaten was Citizen TV reporter Stephen Letoo as he delivered a live link of the drama at the airport.
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Mr. Miguna had been out of the country for six weeks after he was illegally deported to Canada by the government over the swearing in of Raila Odinga as the people’s president on January 30.
The government also confiscated his Kenyan passport and declared him a non-Kenyan despite having been born in Kenya.
Upon landing immigration officers denied him entry claiming he was undocumented passenger after he failed to surrender his Canadian passport despite existence of a court order ordering the government to facilitate his returns back in the country.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) vice chair George Morara said that the immigration department should have complied with the order in full to avoid the standoff.
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The High Court’s order required the immigration department to facilitate Mr Miguna's return by issuing travel documents and air ticket.
The KNCHR was mandated to ensure that the court orders were complied with.
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