UON Student Arrested With Petrol Tells Court He Operates Boda Boda To Raise Fee

• Benard Ojiambo, a University of Nairobi student, was arrested for being found in possession of petrol
• Ojiambo, through his lawyer Danstan Omari, explained that he operates a boda boda business, which is why he had petrol
• The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) denied him bail, citing numerous previous cases of arson

A fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Nairobi, who was reportedly found with petrol near the institution, has been arraigned.

Why was the UoN student arraigned?

According to the prosecution, Bernard Wangila Ojiambo was found on September 9 at noon along Harry Thuku Road near Boulevard, armed with a 5-litre jerry can of petrol.

The prosecution added that Ojiambo appeared to have an intent to commit arson.

He was alleged to have been accompanied by others who were not present in court.

His lawyer, Danstan Omari, who represented him on a pro bono basis, told the court that Ojiambo was buying petrol for his motorbike, which had run out of fuel.

Omari added that Ojiambo had opted to board another motorcycle to purchase the petrol and that he runs a boda boda business to make ends meet.

"My client lives in a slum and does not live in a hostel. He was on a motorbike with the petrol for his boda boda which uses he to raise money for his upkeep and school fees. This is due to the challenges in the new university funding model that saw university students languish in poverty due to lack of HELB funds," Omari said.

He further told the court that Ojiambo's classmates were unable to raise bail for him, so he offered to pay part of the amount himself.

"I have asked his classmates if they can raise the cash bail for him, but they have said they have no money. I have offered to pay KSh 5,000 cash bail myself so that he can be free to sit for exams," Omari stated.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) opposed the bail application, citing numerous cases of arson.

He denied the charges before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Robinson Ondieki, who is scheduled to rule on the bail terms tomorrow.

Student arrested for impersonating Sonko

In a separate incident, a 23-year-old student enrolled at Kabete Polytechnic found himself in hot water after duping numerous unsuspecting Kenyans out of their hard-earned money.

Tyson Kibet, the culprit behind the scheme, devised a fraudulent Facebook account under the guise of Mike Sonko, the former governor of Nairobi.

Under the false identity of Sonko, Kibet transformed the fake page into a dating platform, showcasing explicit images of women and soliciting payments from interested men to facilitate connections.

He was arrested and charged with cyber-squatting as per Section 28 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act No. 5 of 2018, for impersonating the esteemed politician and tarnishing his reputation without consent.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke