IN SHORT: The graphic claims YouTuber Lynn Ngugi said activist Rose Njeri collaborated with Estonian hackers and Boniface Mwangi had been abducted again. But the graphic did not originate from K24 and the claims made in it are false.
A graphic designed to look like a news update from news station K24 has been circulating on social media platform X. It features a photo of journalist Lynn Ngugi and a quote attributed to her.
The graphic, dated 4 June 2025, reads: “Lynn Ngugi: Rose Njeri was arrested because she was working with Estonian hackers. Now, Boniface Mwangi has been abducted again, this time in Lukenya by men heading towards Namanga.”
Most of the accompanying posts contain the hashtags #AsanteSamia and #BonifaceAbductedAgain. They contain commentary that suggests there’s a coordinated plan by foreign groups to use local Kenyan activists to cause unrest.
Collectively, these posts have been viewed over 21,000 times.
The context
Lynn Ngugi is a well-known Kenyan journalist and YouTuber who previously worked at Tuko Media.
K24 is one of Kenya's main news stations and is part of the MediaMax media network.
The posts emerged in the wake of two high-profile news events. First, Boniface Mwangi, a Kenyan photojournalist and activist, travelled to Tanzania to support imprisoned opposition politician Tundu Lissu. But he was detained on 20 May by Tanzanian authorities alongside Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire. They were later deported and reported being tortured.
On 30 May, Rose Njeri, a Kenyan software developer, was arrested for building a tool that lets Kenyans email members of parliament to voice their opposition to the proposed 2025/26 finance bill. She was released on bail on 3 June and the charges later dropped altogether.
On 4 June, claims began circulating on social media that Mwangi had been abducted again, this time from his home in Lukenya, allegedly heading to Namanga, a town on the Kenya-Tanzania border. Among these claims was a video, reportedly from Citizen TV, which appeared to show Mwangi being tortured. This was supported by what appeared to be the front page of the Standard newspaper. However, these claims were debunked by Africa Check.
This graphic began to circulate around the same time as the other claims. While it repeats the Mwangi story, it also claims that Njeri was part of a group of Estonian hackers. The story is attributed to K24, and the accompanying posts suggest that Mwangi and Njeri are both part of a foreign-backed strategy to destabilise the country.
But did any of this happen and did K24 really report this? We checked.
Quote fabricated; abduction claim false
The first red flag is that the video repeats the Mwangi abduction claim, which had already been debunked. The accompanying posts also feature similar hashtags and commentary to those seen in other debunked claims. This suggests that the claim is part of the same disinformation campaign.
There is also no record of Ngugi making such comments, either on her social media accounts or Youtube channel.
Most importantly, K24, whose branding appears on the graphic, publicly disowned it as “fake news”. Other brands under the same parent company, MediaMax, also identified the same graphic as fake.
The quote attributed to Lynn Ngugi is fabricated. The claims are false and part of a flagged disinformation campaign, and K24 did not publish the graphic.
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