A Kenyan man was caught exhuming his father’s body to retrieve his leather shoes.

27-year-old Patrick Mwangi Katonye was caught by members of the public, disinterring the body at around 8 am on Wednesday, October 2, in Maseno Village.

The photo above shows the disturbed grave of his late father Johnson Ndonye in Subukia, Nakuru County.

According to Nakuru Police Commander Stephen Matu, the suspect wanted to retrieve a pair of leather shoes his late father Johnson Ndonye was buried with back in 2005. The police commander said the man claimed he wanted to sell the shoes.

“The suspect told the police that he wanted to sell the shoes. He waited for members of his family to leave the home before exhuming the body but the shoe was rotten,” said Matu.

Police arrested Katonye and ordered him to be taken for psychiatric tests before being presented in court where he will be charged for disturbing the dead.

“It is wrong for anybody to exhume the dead. Such can only be done if permission is granted by a court of law. Investigations have therefore commenced after which the suspect will be arraigned,” added the police boss.

Matu said the suspect’s family requested the police to allow them to conduct prayers before reburying the body, as it is a taboo to exhume the dead.

“Police are liaising with the family and the church to rebury the body. The family requested us to allow them time to conduct some prayers and cleansing,” he said.

The Federal Minister of Communications, Isa Ali Pantami, has spoken out against the harassment of Nigerians with personal computers, tablets and other ICT gadgets in public places by security operatives.

While applauding the EFCC and other security agents on its fight against cybercrimes, the Minister in a statement said that one of the negative effects of this action is that young persons are assumed to be fraudsters by the security officials without evidence or proof of committing such crimes.

Part of the statement reads ;

“The Ministry notes with dismay, this unfortunate turn of events as we celebrate the growing and bubbling technology eco-system in Nigeria that enables young persons to learn various skills ranging from software engineering to varied forms of entrepreneurship by simply accessing online tools and content on these devices.

“We are aware that several other persons have engaged in nefarious activities utilising computers and similar devices, we must however be careful not to paint all young Nigerians with a similar brush.

It would therefore be counterproductive to stifle this sector of the economy by labelling every young Nigerian with a computing device as a fraudster.

It is in this light that the Federal Ministry of Communications frowns at the current profiling and harassment of young Nigerians and therefore admonishes security agencies to be circumspect in these situations.

We understand the need for pro activity to protect the society, however, this must be done credibly while recognising the fundamental human rights of every citizen of Nigeria. If this situation goes unchecked, it will dampen the vigorous attempt at diversifying the economy and rather push more young energies underground with catastrophic consequences”.