By Rebecca Odhiambo
A screengrab of the video
A viral social media post claims that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested two students from Mount Kenya University at the Namanga One Stop Border Post while allegedly attempting to traffic 10 stolen children into Tanzania to be used as “sacrifices by the rich.”
The video was posted on X by @kilundeezy, a verified Kenyan creator with 138,000 followers. The post had garnered 22,000 views by the time of review.
BACKGROUND
A report by the Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Services states that between January 2025 and March 2026, Kenya recorded 10,581 child protection cases linked to missing and vulnerable children, about 6,500 cases annually. The data also shows that there exist 6,820 cases of abandoned children, 1,952 abduction cases, 173 trafficking incidents, and 1,636 missing children cases. At least 2,328 children remain unaccounted for.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit has identified ransom demands, forced labour, organ harvesting, and ritual practices among the motives behind child disappearances. Many cases also involve children being groomed online for sexual exploitation. One case that drew national attention was the abduction and murder of Brighton Kibet, with investigators linking it to suspected ritual killings and organ harvesting.
Child trafficking across the Kenya–Tanzania border through the Namanga One Stop Border Post has also been documented. In 2022, a BBC Africa Eye investigation uncovered a trafficking network that transported children with disabilities from impoverished rural communities in Tanzania and forced them to beg on the streets of Nairobi. Following the investigation, authorities arrested at least 78 suspected Tanzanian street beggars in Nairobi.
The existence of genuine cases of missing children, documented cross-border trafficking through Namanga, and investigations into ritual killings create fertile ground for misinformation. The viral post exploits these legitimate public concerns by weaving them into an unverified and sensational claim, despite there being no evidence to support its allegations.
VERIFICATION
A Google Lens reverse image search traced the viral video to a Facebook post published on June 20, 2025, proving the video predates the claim.
Screengrabs of the video as posted on June 19 and 20, 2025.
The original post identifies the incident as having occurred on Duruma Road in Nairobi, not at the Namanga border. It states that the suspects were foreign nationals and makes no mention of Mount Kenya University students, 10 children of the same age, Tanzania, ritual sacrifice, or “the rich.” Additionally, True Signal News is neither a verified nor an accredited media outlet, and the post did not cite any official police statement or identify its reporter.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit routinely publicises verified trafficking arrests. A review of the DCI’s official website, press releases, and social media platforms, as well as reports by Nation, The Standard, Citizen Digital, KBC, TUKO, and The Star, found no record of any arrest involving Mount Kenya University students at the Namanga border or allegations of trafficking children for ritual sacrifice.
VERDICT
Claims that the DCI arrested MKU students trafficking 10 children to Tanzania for ritual sacrifice at the Namanga Boarder on May 26, 2026 are FALSE.
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