The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was on Saturday forced to apologize to Kenyans after being put on the spot for using using fake photos online.

The DCI had posted photos of what it described as suspects of Azimio protests.

"The Directorate of Criminal Investigations wishes to unreservedly apologize to the public for the mix-up of images in yesterday’s communication, which was meant to appeal for information regarding the whereabouts of criminal suspects involved in Monday’s illegal demonstrations." reads a statement from DCI , posted on Saturday.

Adding " The mix-up was partly occasioned by the overwhelming information that we had received via the #FichuakwaDCI online platform regarding the reported incidents of violence,"

DCI on Friday launched a manhunt for suspects alleged to have engaged in acts of violence during the Monday protests. They  requested the suspects to present themselves at the Serious Crimes offices based at DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road or at their nearest police station before close of business on Friday for further action.

Kenyans took to twitter to castigate the DCI over the photos.

On Friday, NTV ran a story on it's 9pm bulletin exposing the DCI over the fake photos.

In one of the  photos a man is seen aiming a teargas cannister at an unknown target. However, the image appears to first have been used in 2008.