Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi Arrested over Attempted Sh17.5 Million Extortion

Kenyan blogger Cyprian Nyakundi was on Monday arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over alleged blackmail and extortion.

Nyakundi and an associate of his, Emmanuel Nyamweya Ong’era, have been accused of receiving Sh1 million from one of their victims as down payment for Sh17.5 million they demanded in order to pull down libelous posts that appears on their website.

"The two had just received Sh1 million from one of their victims, being a down payment [for a] Sh17.5 million [payment] they had earlier demanded as a precondition for pulling down libelous posts appearing on a website [they allegedly own]," the DCI said.

Detectives arrested both individuals at Westgate Mall in Nairobi, assign that the Sh1 million down payment was recovered from the individuals at the time of arrest and will be used as exhibit.

The two individuals are being held at Gigiri Police Station and set to be arraigned in court on Tuesday.