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A political activist arrested over a publication circulating on social media urging Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to harm President William Ruto will remain in custody for five more days.

Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) want to question Nuru Maloba Okanga about a video clip on the TikTok account Riba News that quotes him making the alleged claims.

Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi ordered that Okanga be detained for questioning over 13 publications circulated on social media.

Prosecution counsel Virginia Kariuki, seeking to detain Okanga for 21 days, told the court that officers from the Serious Crimes Unit will question Okanga about allegations that “risk plunging the country into chaos”.

Cybercrime detectives want to examine 13 links in which Okanga and others are accused of making inflammatory statements meant to lead to ethnic profiling, Kariuki said.

Kariuki alleged that Okanga had published “false information, contrary to Section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act No.5 of 2018”.

Police are also investigating other serious offences before drawing up any criminal charges against Okanga, she added.

The magistrate heard that the alleged publication was circulated on the Tiktok account called “Riba News Gospel@ribanewsgospel.”

The video clip is titled “Gachagua Piga Ruto Risasi (Gachagua shoot Ruto”.

Okanga is alleged to have said that Gachagua worked for the provincial administration, knows how to use a firearm and should shoot the President.

But defence lawyers Shadrack Wambui and Kevin Onani urged the court to grant Okanga bond, arguing that Article 49 of the Constitution guarantees a suspect to be released pending investigations.

Most of the witnesses in the case will be police officers and “there is no way Okanga can infiltrate the police force”, Wambui pleaded.

In a brief ruling, the magistrate allowed police to detain Okanga for five days at the Muthaiga Police Station in Nairobi.

“I have considered the application by the police through the [Directorate of Public Prosecutions]. It has merit and I allow police to keep the suspect for five days for interrogation and recording of witness statements,” Ekhubi ruled.

The suspect will be presented in court on June 18,  for further directions.