The Nigeria High Commission in Kenya has responded to the claims that Nigerian citizens may be responsible for at least one of the recent femicide cases in Kenya.
Through a memo dated January 17, Wednesday the Nigerian consulate said that they were concerned by online blogs, doctored videos and social media posts, maliciously entrenching spurious speculation that ‘Nigerians’ had perpetrated these heinous crimes.
The office raised concerns that Nigerian citizens were being targeted in the online attacks.
They went on to urge Nigerian nationals residing in Kenya to remain calm and law-abiding as investigations into the cases continue.
“Nigerians in Kenya are advised to be vigilant and avoid unnecessary movements even as investigations are ongoing and formal communication from Kenyan law enforcement authorities are awaited,” the memo reads.
The Nigeria High Commission went on to further urge Kenyans on social media to desist from spreading disinformation targeted towards Nigerian nationals.
“The High Commission is taking proper note of the channels through which such disinformation is being shared and would like to assure that necessary action, within the scope of international law and extant legal provisions of the host authorities, will be invoked as appropriate,” The High Commission wrote.
On Tuesday, investigators questioned a man suspected to have killed the university student Rita Waeni.
The Nigerian national was reportedly intercepted at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The man, travelling with a passport from Mozambique, was stopped before he could board the aircraft, questioned at the airport, and then taken to the Kasarani police station to be identified.