by Nurat Uthman
A group of young people, aiming for social media fame, have been arrested after filming and publishing on Tiktok a fake robbery outside a police station in Kilifi, Kenya.
The four, one of whom is 17 years old, made a video titled ‘wezi mbele ya police station’ (robbery outside a police station), and posted it on the popular video platform. However, police didn’t take it lightly.
The police confiscated the motorcycle used in the prank. In the video, a seemingly drunk man exits the Administration Police (AP) canteen and gets robbed by two others on a motorcycle.
The 18-year-old cameraman was among those arrested. Police identified them through CCTV footage at the AP canteen.
Kilifi North Sub-county Police Commander Kenneth Maina confirmed the incident and assured the public of safety. He said investigations are ongoing, and the suspects will face charges, including cybercrimes.
“The viral video of a daylight robbery at the Kilifi Administration Police canteen in Kilifi was not real but a prank by a group of youths creating content for their TikTok account,” he said as quoted in several by local media reports.
The youths were arrested at their homes in Kilifi, with the oldest being 27 years old.
Mr Maina said they were pursuing another suspect who was still at large.
He said the youths revealed that they wanted to attract followers to their TikTok account.
“There were five youths and we managed to arrest four of them and the other one we have a crucial lead that will lead us to an arrest,” he said.
