Residents of Kikuyu, Kiambu county, are appealing for help to free their neighbour following her arrest. Anti-riot police patrol the streets on Tom Mboya Avenue. Mariam Njeri Ali was arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kikuyu in connection with the nationwide protests held on Wednesday, June 25. The 22-year-old’s arrest prompted an online appeal from neighbours calling for her release. Was Mariam Njeri protesting on Wednesday, June 25? They claimed she was not involved in the chaotic protests, with one person detailing what happened before her arrest: Search option is now available at TUKO! Feel free to search the content on topics/people you enjoy reading about in the top right corner 😉 “She’s very mature, and she can’t do things like destroying government property. We’ve been with her for years and have never heard of her doing such things.
“She was not demonstrating. She was arrested as she left a hotel next to where she works. We even have footage of her leaving the hotel at exactly 1.40pm, and she was arrested about 10 minutes later,” the neighbour shared. What was Mariam Njeri accused of? Njeri’s neighbour argued that by the time she was arrested, the law courts had not yet been set on fire. She claimed Njeri is “100% innocent” and appealed for help, saying she was mistakenly arrested. Njeri was accused of arson, contrary to Section 332 of the Penal Code, in relation to the Gen Z memorial protests. Kenyans react to Mariam Njeri’s neighbour’s plea The online appeal went viral, sparking mixed reactions from netizens: Josse Ndungu: “Your footage evidence might save her fate. Register as a witness in court… and don’t forget to request witness protection.” Gk Prezda: “That footage is acceptable in court to prove her whereabouts at the time of the crime. The challenge will be explaining the events after she was recorded on CCTV leaving the hotel, since the court was razed down sometime later. Hope justice prevails.”
Chebirtabe Lasoi: “Was the hotel she was in equipped with a CCTV camera? “If yes, then she needs a lawyer to speak to the Head of Security and retrieve the footage showing that she was there when the torching occurred elsewhere. That footage can be used in court as evidence and she will be acquitted, having no case to answer.” Ken Jakoduol Snr: “Let them release the footage. Peer pressure is really affecting people. I have a cousin from the village who’s normally calm, but peer pressure led him to the protests. He’s now in hospital with injuries. I told him to figure out how to pay his hospital bills — I’m not covering them.” David Mutahi: “I also saw another guy in a yellow hoodie being arrested at night as he was coming from work. We had boarded the same matatu and were walking in the same direction. The only difference is that I had a job ID, and he didn’t. I was spared because of my ID, but he was dragged to Kikuyu Police Station. I later heard them saying, ‘You’re the ones who set the court on fire.’ I couldn’t do much — I just had to protect myself. Most of the people on the DCI page are actually very innocent.”
By John Green
