LEADERSHIP
Detectives in Kenya have arrested two Nigerian nationals suspected of murdering and dismembering 20-year-old Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) student, Rita Waeni, in an apartment.
The gruesome crime sparked outrage and a frantic search for the perpetrators, Kenya’s The Nation Media Group reported on its website on Monday.
The suspects, identified as William Ovie Opia and Johnbull Asbor, were living illegally in Kenya. Opia’s passport had expired, and Asbor claimed he lost his travel documents two years ago.
According to the newspaper, DCI detectives found the pair hiding in an apartment in Ndenderu, Kiambu County, not far from where Waeni’s head was later recovered.
DCI’s Criminal Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) traced the suspects based on leads and evidence gathered from the Kasarani crime scene.
Constable Benjamin Wangila of Kasarani DCI offices told a Makadara court that the suspects’ proximity to the body parts’ discovery further strengthened the case against them.
A chilling picture emerged as police detailed the items recovered from the suspects’ hideout: a hatchet, a butcher’s knife, a Kenyan national ID—belonging to an unknown individual, six mobile phones, three laptops, 10 SIM cards, and other items.
“The investigation team is seeking to obtain call data records for all the SIM cards and mobile phone numbers recovered from the respondents to ascertain whether they were involved in the murder,” the paper quoted Constable Benjamin Wangila of Kasarani DCI offices as saying in an affidavit filed to the court.
Authorities will analyse call data from these devices to establish the suspects’ involvement in the murder…
