A wave of street protests over two missing young men has plunged Nairobi’s Huruma estate into violent chaos, leaving at least one more person dead and two others seriously injured during fresh clashes between police and demonstrators.

The killing on Tuesday brings the total death toll to two since the unrest erupted last week, paralyzing local businesses for the third time in less than seven days.

Demanding the immediate release of Abdulaziz Duba Molu, popularly known as “Zizo,” and another local youth identified as Maxwell Kiarie, angry residents brought traffic to a complete standstill across several major arteries in Eastlands.

Demonstrators used heavy stones and boulders to barricade roads through Kiamaiko, Kariobangi North, Huruma, and along Outer Ring Road for most of Tuesday morning.

Law enforcement officers deployed tear gas canisters to disperse the rioting crowds, eventually clearing the blockaded highways by 1pm.

While police authorities alleged that some of the protesters had weaponized the chaos to attack, rob, and extort innocent motorists, another senior police commander confirmed that independent investigations have been launched into the fatal shooting.

Both Zizo and Kiarie have been missing for a week after they were reportedly picked up by unidentified men from the area.

While relatives and neighbors strongly suspect state security organs are behind the coordinated disappearances, there remains zero official confirmation regarding who is holding them or where they are being detained. Crucially, neither youth has been presented before any court of law, violating standard statutory arrest procedures.

The case has drawn intense public interest due to Zizo’s high-profile brush with law enforcement two years ago.

In 2024, Zizo was arrested during a major multi-estate police sting operation targeting a sophisticated six-member criminal gang operating across Kayole, Umoja 3, and Huruma.

According to forensic investigators at the time, the syndicate utilized club-hopping women to spike the drinks of licensed firearm holders.

Once the victims were unconscious, the women would steal their weapons to arm a four-man hit squad that terrorized local neighborhoods.

Zizo’s arrest in 2024 directly led detectives to a house in Kiamaiko, where officers recovered a Falcon pistol and a Ceska pistol—the latter having been violently robbed from a police inspector attached to Mowlem Police Station.