2 Nigerians In Rita Waeni Murder Case Freed

The two, arrested in connection with the murder, had been in police custody since January 22, 2024. 

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Feb 15, 2024 - 15:19 Updated: Feb 15, 2024 - 15:22
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2 Nigerians In Rita Waeni Murder Case Freed
Collage of slain Rita Waeni Muendo and an apartment in Roysambu, Nairobi where she was killed. /FILE

The Makadara Law Courts has set free two Nigerians arrested over the murder of 20-year-old Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) student Rita Waeni.

The two, arrested in connection with the murder, had been in police custody since January 22, 2024. 

The court had allowed police to detain the two to allow them (police) to complete investigations into the case. 

Magistrate Agnes Mwangi, while releasing the suspects, however, directed them to appear before the investigators once a week. This is as the prosecution affirmed that investigations into the murder were still ongoing.

Two Nigerian suspects arraigned at the Makadara Law Courts on January 22, 2024. /KINYAN BOY.X

Initial Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) investigations revealed that the duo were living in Kenya illegally, with one having an expired passport and the other not having any travel documents at the time of his arrest, telling detectives that he lost his passport two years ago.

Photos of the two who were arraigned on January 22 at the courts emerged, but they did not match the man who was captured on CCTV collecting keys to a short-stay accommodation at TRM Drive where Waeni was found murdered.

The Nigerian suspects were traced by the DCI’s Criminal Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) detectives to an apartment in Ndenderu in Kiambu County where they were picked up, a few metres from where Waeni's head was found dumped.

According to Constable Benjamin Wangila of Kasarani DCI offices in an affidavit, the suspects were living not very far from the area where Waeni’s head was recovered.

The man who was earlier arrested by police had tried to escape using a fake passport but the suspect captured on CCTV had a lighter skin tone, contrary to the persons who appeared in court to face murder charges.

During the raid, a hatchet, butcher’s knife, a national identity card belonging to a Kenyan, six mobile phones, three laptops, 10 SIM cards from different telecom services providers and other items were recovered at the house where the two suspects were residing before their arrest.

The affidavit indicated that the Nigerian suspect bought a hatchet from an online vendor and he told investigators that he had bought it for self-defence.

Wangila found that the suspects were flight risks since they didn’t have a known fixed place of abode.

Waeni's murder gained nationwide attention over the spike in femicide cases that had increased in the recent past.

The head was found covered in a sack and wrapped in a purple blouse, adding a sinister twist to the already gruesome scene.

The actual killer who was accused of dismembering Waeni's body is still yet to be arrested.

On February 5, 2024, the student was buried in a low-key ceremony at Mukimwani Village in Makueni County. During the burial, Waeni's family demanded for justice to be served.

Detectives at a dam in Kiambaa, Kiambu County where they recovered a human head on January 21, 2024. /VIRAL TEA KE

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