Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir has been dragged into a case where four suspects were charged with the rape and abduction of a blogger.
The four, Ms Esther Muthoni John, alias Totoo, Ms Violet Adera, alias Vayoo, Mr Abdul Hassan Athman, Alias Sindimba, and Haji Babu Ndau Mohamed, alias Achkobe, alias Jay, were presented before the Shanzu court where they denied the charges.
They were jointly charged with the offence of conspiracy to commit a felony, where the State alleged that the four conspired to abduct the blogger identified in court as BJK. The State alleges that they committed the offence on September 12, at an unknown place, jointly with others who are yet to be arrested.
The four were also charged with the offence of abduction with intent to confine, where the state alleges that the suspects abducted the victim with intent to cause him to be secretly and wrongfully confined.
Mr Athman and Mr Mohamed are separately charged with the offence of gang rape where they are accused of sexually assaulting BJK.
The two were also charged with assaulting the blogger using kicks and fist, and injuring him.
The four suspects however denied the charges when they appeared before Shanzu Senior Resident Magistrate Robert Mbogo.
The court was told that Mr Nassir and his mother are among those expected to record statements with the police as investigations into the allegations of abduction and gang rape of the blogger intensifies.
The court heard that more efforts were underway to record the statements as it also emerged that there may have been attempts to aid more suspects who had been adversely mentioned in the crime to escape justice by going into hiding.
“More efforts are underway to arrest the remaining suspects and recording statements, including that of Mr Nassir, his mother, and other senior and prominent Mombasa county officials who we have intelligence report that they are assisting some of the suspects to go into hiding,” Corporal Irene Karuga stated.
The officer said she could only confirm this intelligence report by analysing communication between the persons of interest in the case.
Ms Karuga said that the investigators are currently looking for at least 15 people who are suspected to have been involved in the abduction and gang rape of the blogger.
“Their communication has since gone off air since the first arrest. We have only managed to arrest four suspects out of the possible 15 who were mentioned,” she told the court while being guided by the prosecution counsel Anthony Musyoka.
Documents filed in court show that this month, the victim posted on his Tik Tok account a video clip which he had recorded himself criticising Mr Nassir.
The filed document further shows that the clip went viral drawing anger from a section of social media users.
“This is suspected to be the reason for the abduction and later gang rape which was subjected to the complainant,” said Ms Karuga.
The court heard that the victim was at his house when a gang got its way inside his house and he was in a position to identify some of them.
The gang convinced the victim that they were taking him to a hotel within Mombasa County so that he could apologise to the governor in relation to the video which he had posted on his Tik Tok account, according to the officer in her affidavit filed in court.
The court heard that the victim cooperated and he was sandwiched between a rider and another pillion passenger and taken towards the hotel with the escort of about six other motorcycles which had pillion passengers on board.
The prosecution said that upon arrival at the hotel, the victim found a black Toyota Vitz and was forced in and sandwiched in the back seat.
The officer said that the victim was then driven towards a place where he could only see a building of the standard gauge railway station where he was assaulted and subjected to the unnatural act.
“After they were through with the ill act, the victim was dressed and covered with a sack before he was pushed into the boot of the car. He was driven around and upon arriving at Mwakirunge area, he was dumped while he was unconscious,” said the officer in her affidavit.
All this while, the police document further explains, that the suspects were taking videos, which they later used to blackmail the victim, to stop him from reporting the matter to police.
“He was left in a sack fighting for his life after they realized that he was unconscious and the gang disappeared. By good luck, he was in a position to spot a motorbike, which he requested to ferry him to his house so that he could pick up his phone and communicate about the incident and also request for assistance,” said the officer.
In an affidavit to oppose bond, Ms Karuga said the suspects' were flight risks and would likely interfere with investigations.
The officer said that Mr Athman was arrested while in possession of a refugee certificate card bearing his name, indicating he is a Tanzania national, Sauda Omar.
He was also found with two county government cards bearing the name Abdul Hassan from the Department of Lands and Urban Renewal, and a motorcycle believed to have been used to ferry the complainant.
“We need to establish his true identity. He has no fixed abode,” the officer said while being questioned by the suspects’ lawyers Jared Magolo and Wycliffe Makasembo.
The court was told that Mr Mohamed is a flight risk since he was arrested at Machakos junction on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway while aboard a bus heading to an unknown destination after realising his associates were arrested.
“This is an eye opener that if he is released on any terms, he can be a flight risk,” said the officer.
The court also heard that the two women were arrested while in possession of identity cards bearing different names, Nurein Ali Hassan, and a driving licence bearing the name Dismus Ohubedo.
“We need to establish the true identity of the suspects and also subject the identities to the National Registration Bureau. We also need to conduct DNA analysis of the respondents so as to compare with the victim swaps,” she said.
The advocates however asked the court to release the suspects on bond, arguing that the prosecution had not provided compelling reasons to continue detaining them.
“The court should not be used to settle political scores. Someone aspiring to be the governor of Mombasa in future wants to use this court for their reasons. The court should reject the same,” said Mr Magolo.
The advocates said their clients' residences are known, and that they are Kenyans.
The four will remain in custody until Thursday when the court will make a ruling on their bond application.
Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri) organisation had on Sunday raised concerns over their disappearance, saying their whereabouts were unknown since they were taken away by police officers on Friday.
According to Muhuri’s rapid response officer Francis Auma, the two were held incommunicado despite their lawyers and family not knowing who had arrested them.
“Before someone is arrested they need to be told why they are being arrested. Police officers must identify themselves. Kenya currently has many abduction cases and people are disappearing,” Mr Auma said on Sunday.
An amateur video shared on social media showed how plainclothes men approached the two women at a hotel in Mombasa city centre and took them away.
