Nairobi’s “prettiest thug” Claire Njoki Kibia was laid to rest on Thursday in a tense affair at her family’s home in Kambirwa, Murang’a county.
The send-off ceremony was only attended by few of her friends and family members.
The presence of plain clothes police officers only heightened tension among mourners. The officers from Kiharu Constituency in Murang’a County would later arrest three men suspected of being Claire’s accomplices, an hour after her burial.
According to the wife of one of the arrested men, the officers ordered the three men to lie down and took them away in different vehicles.
The three are Samuel Kiboi, Sammy Malaimu, and Amos Ngaire from Kayole, who are relatives of the deceased.
During the sombre burial ceremony, conversations among the mourners were in hushed tones with only one tent pitched in the compound with less than 50 plastic chairs available.
According to reports, no one took photographs with family members seemingly cautious of the media’s presence.
One of Claire’s friends said most of her friends were scared of the police.
“Most of her friends were scared that they would be arrested if they showed up for the burial. They only visited the City Mortuary in Nairobi in the morning,” said a friend.
The brief ceremony also had no written funeral/eulogy program or tributes. The presiding clergymen did not introduce her mother or her siblings.
Among the few speakers at the burial was area assistant chief and the deceased’s grandmother.
[showad block=6]
According to neighbours who spoke to the Nation, the deceased often visited her grandmother in Kambirwa village. The grandmother in her speech termed Njoki’s death was “untimely, sad and unfortunate”.
“It was very painful to learn of her death but God has the answers. We thank all those people who have comforted us,” she said.
The 18-Year-Old was shot dead last week in Nairobi during an exchange of fire with the police.
She dropped out of secondary school in 2013 after she was punished by her then-school principal.
She would later move to Kayole to stay with her mother but moved out of her mother’s home to live with her boyfriend.
