The colonial Kenyan government was heavily opposed to the association's aims. The settler-dominated colony was not yet ready for any forceful representation of African economic, social and political views, and moved to ban national political movements. On 14 March 1922, Thuku was arrested in connection with his political activities. On the two following days, there were demonstrations initiated by Mary Muthoni Nyanjiru to protest his arrest. The first demonstration, on the 15th, passed off peacefully, dispersing after a public prayer for Thuku's safety. On the morning of the 16th, a crowd of 7-8,000 of his supporters gathered around the Nairobi police station to demand his release from detention. The police eventually opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least 25 of them. White civilians joined in the shooting, and may have shot some of the protesters in the back. Thuku was exiled, without charge or trial, to Kismayu in the Northern Frontier Province of Kenya, in present-day Somalia.