Dragged from Home, Accused of Terror: Boniface Mwangi Breaks Silence on Shocking Arrest.

Boniface Mwangi was barely out of the bathroom when he walked into a scene that would spiral into one of his most traumatic encounters in recent years. Unknown men stood in his Lukenya home, rifling through his belongings. By the time they left, he was in custody, with memories of his torture in Tanzania crashing back.

Released on a Ksh1 million personal bond, Mwangi now claims that the arrest, over alleged illegal possession of ammunition, felt eerily orchestrated. “They didn’t just take me. They took my phones, my wife’s devices, my notebooks—everything,” he said. He described being surrounded, struggling to breathe, and reliving the trauma that has haunted him since his detention in Tanzania.

The officers, believed to be from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, later took him to Nairobi, claiming to have a search warrant for his office. “They said I was paying people money for unknown reasons. After searching everything, they found nothing, yet I was told I was under arrest for terrorism,” Mwangi revealed.

Kahawa Law Courts Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage Oenga, however, saw no basis for the police to continue holding Mwangi. He ruled there were no compelling reasons for detention and barred any re-arrest until the case is concluded. This ruling came after two days of back-and-forth accusations between Mwangi’s defence team and the prosecution.

The true motive behind the arrest remains murky. Was this a national security issue or a silent warning to a vocal critic of the system? With the gadgets confiscated and no official statement explaining the link between ammunition and terrorism charges, questions now surround what evidence the state is truly relying on.