[CENTER][SIZE=6]Bulent Gulbahar and lawyer Valentine Ataka forcibly entered Gateway Park with their car and attacked security guards[/SIZE]
[LEFT]
On Sunday 3rd March, a black RAV4 pulled up at the Gateway Park gate on Mombasa Road. As a matter of procedure Walter Ouma, one of the security men on guard, requested to undertake a security search of the car and occupants.[/LEFT][/CENTER]
The car had two people: a white man in the co-driver’s seat and his driver, a Kenyan who turned out to be his lawyer.
Curiously, the two declined to undergo a security check. When the Ouma pressed them further, the white man identified Bulent Gulbahar, a Turkish national, stepped out of the car, pushed the gate open and went after the two guards who had tried to block his entry.
The man, apparently physically strong, overpowers them and lands kicks and blows on Ouma, while uttering obscenities and derogatory remarks, according to witnesses who were outraged with the action but feared the foreigner could be armed.
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Valentine Ataka and his client Bulent Gulbahar at the Industrial Area police station after the incident.
As Gulbahar bullied the watchmen, the driver, one Valentine Ataka, rammed the gate with the car and forcibly gained entry without inspection, ruining the Sunday afternoon peace at the premises. Coming just weeks after the terror attack at Dusit2D hotel, the incident caused a scare at the complex, with some people fearing it was another attack.
Ataka, a partner at Ataka Kimori & Okoth Advocates, is described on the company’s website as an energy law and policy professional with specialized training and qualification in oil and gas law.
Meanwhile, Gulbahar beats up the helpless watchman as his colleagues and the public watch in fear. At the end, Mr Ouma, who works for Fidelity Security Company, is left with a bloody face, from a cut by a sharp object (or heavy blow) on the eyebrow.
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Valentine Ataka: Driver of the car
CCTV cameras at the business complex caught the action which left many wondering why a foreigner, who is understood to have been having issues with his landlord at the complex, would molest a security guard doing his job.
“The man identified as Bulent Gulbahar became violent and attacked the guards after refusing to let them search his vehicle and follow their normal security procedures, especially in view of the recent terrorist threats,” said a manager at the building.
The management immediately called the OCS of Industrial Area Police station who took a statement from Gulbahar but released him a few hours later pending investigation.
Mr Peter Kimemia, the general manager of Fidelity Security, said the injured guard was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. “We had to take care of our employee’s wellbeing first,” he told Business Today in an interview. “But we reported the matter to the police and it was recorded under OB 006.”
There are, however, fears that the Gulbahar, being a foreigner with local connections, may get away with what is clearly a breach of peace and the law. It is also an issue that will certainly attract the attention of Immigration Department and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) as it borders on racial discrimination/hatred.
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Security inspection is mandatory in most premises in Nairobi. VIPs who do not wish to undergo checks usually make prior arrangement with the premises management and security to get advance clearance.
In 2012, then deputy chief justice Nancy Baraza found herself on the wrong side of the court of public opinion when, brandishing a gun, she pinched the nose of a female security guard after she demanded to inspect her bag, telling her she ‘should know people’. That incident with Rebecca Kerubo eventually forced her out of office.
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