Police have arrested blogger Cyprian Andama Nyakundi and one Emmanuel Nyamweya Ong’era on allegations of extortion, blackmail and false accusations.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) reported this via Twitter on Monday, saying the arrests at Westgate Mall in Nairobi followed a successful probe.
“The two had just received Sh1 million from one of their victims, being a down payment [for a] Sh17.5 million [payment] they had earlier demanded as a precondition for pulling down libelous posts appearing on a website [they allegedly own],” the DCI said.
The directorate said Sh1 million exhibit money was recovered and that the suspects will be arraigned on Tuesday.
Mr Nyakundi and Mr Ong’era were taken to Gigiri Police Station.
PAST CASES
The blogger is not new to controversy, having been arrested and sued in the past.
In April 2018, Mr Nyakundi was charged in Kiambu with posting derogatory remarks online, against Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, Nairobi’s Mike Sonko and the then Kenya Power Managing Director Ken Tarus.
He denied the charges and was freed on Sh200,000 bond or Sh100,000 cash bail for each alleged offence.
At the time, Mr Nyakundi was also charged with posting hate speech content against the Kikuyu community on social media.
He denied the accusation and was freed on Sh2 million bond or Sh1 million cash bail.
In 2015, Safaricom bosses the late Bob Collymore and Michael Joseph sued the blogger for publishing defamatory information about them.
The two obtained a court order that barred the blogger from publishing any such content pending determination of their case.