Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has been implicated in a case involving the abduction and rape of a blogger, leading to the arrest of four suspects.
The suspects—Esther Muthoni John, alias Totoo; Violet Adera, alias Vayoo; Abdul Hassan Athman, alias Sindimba; and Haji Babu Ndau Mohamed, aliases Achkobe and Jay—appeared before the Shanzu court, where they denied all charges.
In a story published by NTV, the mentioned individual will face accusations of conspiracy to commit a felony, with the state alleging that they planned to abduct the blogger, referred to in court as BJK.
This alleged conspiracy took place on September 12 at an undisclosed location, with others still at large.
The suspects are also charged with abduction with the intent to confine, having allegedly taken the victim from the Bamburi Jitegemee area in Kisauni.
Athman and Mohamed are separately charged with gang rape, accused of sexually assaulting BJK and physically assaulting him with kicks and fists.
During the proceedings, the court was informed that Governor Nassir and his mother are among those expected to provide statements to police as investigations into the allegations continue. The court heard there may have been attempts to aid other suspects mentioned in the case to evade justice by going into hiding.
“More efforts are underway to arrest the remaining suspects and record statements from Mr. Nassir, his mother, and other senior Mombasa County officials, who are allegedly assisting some of the suspects to escape,” Corporal Irene Karuga stated.
Karuga confirmed that investigators are currently searching for at least 15 individuals suspected of involvement in the abduction and gang rape. “Their communication has gone silent since the first arrest, and we have only managed to apprehend four suspects out of the potential 15 mentioned,” she added.
Documents filed in court reveal that the victim had posted a video clip on his TikTok account criticizing Governor Nassir, which went viral and reportedly incited anger among certain social media users. “This is suspected to be the motive behind the abduction and subsequent gang rape of the complainant,” Karuga noted.
The court also heard that the victim was at home when a group forcibly entered, and he was able to identify some of his assailants.
