Brygettes Ngana: Time Police Called NTV Reporter Blogger Over Video Of Gunshots In Laikipia

NTV multimedia journalist, Brygettes Ngana once upon a time found herself in the midst of a misunderstanding with the National Police Service (NPS), who discredited her despite working for one of East Africa's biggest media houses.

Quite little was known about her but on September 7, 2021, she shared a video on Twitter showing a gunfight between bandits and National Police Reservists in Ol' Moran, Laikipia County, which went viral across the country's internet.

The gun battle ensued at Merigwit Primary School in the midst of a security operation announced by the Ministry of Interior to curb the banditry menace, with the bold twist being the battle occurring as security officials toured the area to oversee the implementation of security protocols announced by the Ministry, under former Interior CS, Fred Matiang'i at the time.

The bandits were reported to have set the school on fire as law enforcement officers pursued and engaged them in the exchange. 

Here is the video:

Exchange of gunfire between bandits and National Police Reservists in Ol' Moran Laikipia, they have torched Milgwet Primary School pic.twitter.com/ow9WlFvZDZ — Brygettes Ngana (@NBrygettes) September 7, 2021

Residents of Ol Moran were evicted by the bandits and their livestock stolen while some have decided on their own to leave their homes for fear of their lives. They had appealed to the government to find a solution to the problem and restore peace in the region around Laikipia Nature Conservancy.

"The interesting part was I kept doing videos for my news channel, NTV and I kept sending them, I also started uploading what was happening. Actually, that was the first time I ever heard gunshots live," she revealed in a recent video uploaded on her YouTube channel.

Ngana's video was viewed over 36,900 times on Twitter, considered at the time viral enough to spark conversation and draw the attention of the National Police Service (NPS), whose response was not what many would expect.

"Reference to our press release on 9th September 2021 regarding inaccurate, misleading and unconfirmed reporting on the alleged "escalation" of violence within the disturbed areas of Laikipia county by some media houses without any verification from official and reliable sources, we note the same trend is still persisting. This, therefore, leads to more anxiety, fear and despondency for those already victimized by violence and struggling to get their bearing.

"Today September 10, 2021, a Media house has continued to report through its online platform that armed bandits torched 7 houses within the Ol Moran area, including two (2) owned by police reservists. A blogger namely Brygettes Ngana also made similar reporting on Twitter alleging more houses were torched in Dam Samaki, near Ol Moran," NPS' press release read in part at the time.

In her account of the behind-the-scenes events that followed the press release, Ngana recalled that she felt a bit let down by the police's sentiments towards her, even though an uproar ensued amongst journalists based in Rift Valley over the remarks by former Police Spokesperson, Bruno Shioso in the presser.

On her part, she recounted that a number of officials from the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) as well as her bosses at Nation Media Group (NMG) reached out to her amidst fears that the police would arrest her and accuse her of spreading false information.

"Actually, being discredited by the NPS kind of discouraged me. So the following day it was the Media Council officials that called me and they were like "Just let us know" and you know there was a lot of fear that maybe I might be arrested. My bosses called me and they were like in case of anything just let us know," she recalled.

She defended her move to cover the events in Laikipia where she was deployed to document the first time residents in a remote village called Ngoisusu got access to Healthcare through a Mobile Clinic.

Ngana believed that there exist many stories that emerge behind the scenes, especially amongst journalists who are deployed to the field in pursuit of a story, and never make it to the limelight, something she aims to change with the popularity of social media.

"But I went to the ground and there was that tension, but you know what, when you're doing what you're doing with a clean conscience, at the end of the day that prevails. I was just reporting what I was seeing and maybe giving a different angle to the story that those in power or the powers that be don't want to be told. 

"That's what many people or many journalists go through. There are those other things that happen in the pursuit of a story that maybe never makes it to the limelight but at least with social media like my Twitter handle, it has helped me a lot," she added.

Ngana has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Communication from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and began her career as a communications intern for VSO Jitolee in 2011.

She joined KTN in November 2011 as a journalist for four months before transitioning to NMG in 2013 as a broadcast journalist based in Nairobi and an NTV reporter based in Nakuru, in the South Rift region.

On May 6, 2022, she was feted alongside Sam Doe during the Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) organised by MCK in the special topic of mental health and wellness category.

Selfie photo of NTV reporter, Brygettes Ngana. /TWITTER.BRYGETTES NGANA