Plate of rice exposes plot to smuggle escape tools to suspects in police cell

An 18-year-old woman accused of smuggling escape tools hidden in a plate of rice. [DCI]

Police at Ruai Police Station in Nairobi have arrested an 18-year-old woman accused of smuggling escape tools hidden in a plate of rice.

The suspect, Christine Njoki Gitau, visited the station requesting to see three friends held over robbery with violence and gang rape, according to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

She carried a plate of rice and meat, which she said was a meal for the three suspects.

A search by the cell sentry uncovered a pair of pliers and a shear hidden beneath the food, tools believed to have been meant to aid an escape, police said.

"A routine scoop through the food led to a shocking discovery," the DCI said, adding that the plot was crushed before it could hatch.

Gitau was placed under arrest immediately, with the plate now central to a widening investigation into who else may have been involved, according to detectives.

The three suspects, Emmanuel Bosire, Ismael Arisa and Brian Gatheru, are accused of running an anonymous TikTok page used to lure young women into meetings before robbing and gang-raping them.

Aiding or attempting to aid an escape from lawful custody is a serious criminal offence, the DCI warned, noting that offenders will face the full force of the law.