My son was my help. I have stopped going to the market as it brings back the memories of my son’s killing. It overwhelms me.
-Nura’s mother
To many in Nairobi, Kiamaiko in Eastlands is synonymous with goat meat and the echoes of goat bleating as young men herd them to the slaughterhouse, not a brutal killing of a young man. Many youths go there to sell goats on a commission basis. Nura Malicha was one of the youths who would sit at Kiamaiko and look after the goats while waiting for potential buyers.
According to Halima Malicha, Nura’s mum, on 21 February 2015, Nura was going about his usual business when he heard a lorry being driven into the market. Thinking it could be the normal lorry that comes to bring goats, he rushed to the front entrance to the market to meet it. The lorry belonged to the police who immediately arrested him. None of the witnesses heard what was discussed between Nura and the police; they just watched in shock as Nura went on his knees and shot dead.
Nura’s mother was working when she was told that her son had been shot. She rushed to the scene and found her son still breathing. She called the ambulance to take him to Huruma Nursing Home who were unable to help him. Nura died on the way to Kenyatta National Hospital. Ballistic reports showed that the bullet that killed Nura was from the police. Witnesses at the market say that Nura was unarmed and had surrendered but the police still shot him anyway.