TikTokers arrested over police station prank in Kilifi
In the Tiktok video, a seemingly drunk man emerges from the police canteen and is robbed of his bag by two others on a waiting boda boda.
A bid to go viral on TikTok by a group of Kilifi youths who filmed a mock robbery outside a police station has backfired and landed them in trouble instead. This is after they were arrested Wednesday for allegedly tarnishing the image of the Kenya Police Service.
The four, among them a minor aged 17, shot and posted a video about a "robbery" taking place right outside a police station in Kilifi Town. Unknown to them, police officers had watched their video, titled ‘wezi mbele ya police station’, on TikTok.
In the video, a seemingly drunk man emerges from the Administration Police canteen and is robbed of his bag by two others on a waiting boda boda.
The fourth suspect arrested, 18, was the prank's cameraman.
Confirming the arrests, Kilifi North Sub-County Police Commander Kenneth Maina said the suspects were identified from the Tiktok video and CCTV footage obtained from the police canteen. Authorities have also detained the motorbike that was used in the prank.
“The viral daytime robbery video at the Kilifi Administration Police line was not real...it was a prank by a group of youth creating content,” he said.
The TikTokers were arrested at their homes in Kilifi, with the eldest being 27-years-old.
Police say they are pursuing one other suspect who is still at large.
“They were five youths, and we have managed to arrest four. We have a crucial lead on getting the fifth,” he said.
The content creators had hired a motorbike to take them around as they shot their video.
Mr Maina said police have started investigations and plan to have the TikTokers prosecuted.
"They will be charged with different offences including cybercrime," he said.
According to a police report seen by the Nation, the manager of Kilifi AP canteen, Mr Roy Otieno, said a stranger entered the premises and approached a waiter to request permission to film a video.
The waiter declined to grant the stranger permission, but he went ahead and filmed the prank robbery anyway.
