A photo collage of Lucy Njeri and a stock image of an unknown assailant Nelson Ndereba, the estranged husband of Lucy Njeri, has broken his silence over accusations of plotting to kill his wife.
In an interview with a local media house, the 48-year-old Njeri claimed that she left Toronto to come to Kenya to be with her family for the festivities, only to be ‘kidnapped’ at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by unknown assailants allegedly sent by her husband. She claimed the hitmen revealed that their client (Ndereba) had paid Sh1.5 million and ordered them to kill and dump her body in Karura Forest. They even reportedly played her audio recordings of him issuing the instructions. She later paid them Sh2 million so that they could spare her life. After dominating headlines for the better part of the week, there is now a new twist to the interesting story, with Ndereba finally responding to the allegations.
In leaked WhatsApp messages, he admits hiring the men who picked Njeri up at the airport but argues that the murder plot tale was as an extortion attempt.
Ndereba says he only paid an old friend Sh50,000 known as ‘Swaleh’ for a three-day care hire service for his wife during her stay in Kenya.
He has also disputed the contents of a WhatsApp conference call that records him instructing on the killing and dumping of the body, insisting the conversation was edited and is not an accurate account of the full phone call.
Nderba further claims Swaleh used him as bait to get money from his wife and escape from the police, who he alleges are looking for him.
He now says his life is also in danger and that Swaleh is in Canada looking for ways to eliminate him.
The leaked messages between the separated couple dating from December 12 to January 8 also include a sensational discussion on the poisoning of nine members in Ndereba’s family and 11 from Njeri’s side.
The nasty fallout is slowly turning into a bitter family and property feud.
In their conversations, Ndereba occasionally confesses that he still loves Njeri but avoids responding to claims that he hired the gang to kill his wife and dump her body in Karura forest, despite Njeri repeatedly pushing him to plead guilty. “It’s not my wish to part ways with you. You were played by the thugs who pretended to be friends. Please consider how deep you dig my grave. You might be putting yourself at risk,” Ndereba texted Njeri on the night of December 23 at 9.54pm.
In another message, Ndereba says he did not know Swaleh was a wanted criminal and insists he must face justice for kidnapping and robbing her. “What you don’t understand is that the same guy is on wanted list by the Kenyan government for violence and gun related theft. I didn’t know when I contacted him. My apologies. However, we made a mistake to rent his car while he was looking for a way to get to Canada. Hana bahati (he’s not lucky) because I can’t accept how he tricked me on entering a path to Canada by playing between me and my wife,” he tells Njeri in a midnight chat on December 24, last year.
He repeats the same message on December 27, when he tells her that she only helped bring Swaleh closer to his capture by the authorities.
Swaleh’s phone number as provided is registered under the name Swaleh Njiru by Safaricom.
The registration number of the car he used to pick Njeri from the airport, according to the conversation, is KCV 222N.
But a check in the National Transport and Safety Authority’s TIMs portal revealed the number is not listed, which casts even more doubt into her story.
During her stay in Canada, Njeri was an athlete by profession.
Her husband, Ndereba Njeru, was also a runner.