The Kibera Law Court have ordered six suspects accused of operating fake Madaraka Express social media pages used to defraud members of the public to remain in police custody until Thursday, July 16, 2026, to allow authorities to verify the age of one of them.
Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo directed that the suspects be held at Muthaiga Police Station after one of the respondents informed the court that he is below 18 years of age.
The magistrate ordered the investigating officer, Chief Inspector Nickson Kinyua, to facilitate an age assessment at a hospital before the matter resumes.
“Following the oral allegations by the second respondent that he is under 18 years, we adjourn the matter until Thursday to give Inspector Kinyua time to take him to the hospital for age assessment,” Magistrate Atambo ruled.
If the respondent is confirmed to be a minor, he will be entitled to legal representation at the State’s expense and the matter will proceed in accordance with the law governing child offenders. The six suspects are alleged to have operated fake Madaraka Express pages on TikTok and Facebook.
Investigators claim the group posed as Kenya Railways agents, advertising the sale of SGR tickets and offering to reallocate train seats to unsuspecting passengers. Victims allegedly made payments through the fake platforms but never received the promised tickets or services. According to investigators, the suspects were arrested by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nakuru County before being transferred to Nairobi and booked at Muthaiga Police Station in the early hours of July 13, 2026.
Kenya Railways Corporation is the complainant in the case.
Court documents indicate that the investigating officer intends to apply for orders to detain the suspects for 21 days to complete investigations before preferring charges.
The investigators told the court that the probe involves extensive forensic examination of electronic evidence, including recovery and analysis of deleted data, internet browsing records, account recovery information, cloud-based records, login histories, IP addresses, communication logs and other digital artefacts.
The application for continued detention and further directions will be heard on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
