4 kids narrate their 16 hours ordeal with kidnappers

Thika East Deputy Sub-County Police Commander Muthee Nyaga

Four children aged between 6 and 11 years have narrated about their 16 hours ordeal in the hands of kidnappers who allegedly kidnapped them outside their home in Gatuanyaga Division in Thika East Sub-County on Sunday afternoon.

The two boys and two girls, who are neighbours, were playing outside their home when three men and a lady approached them and allegedly sprayed them with some drug that tranquillized them into losing their memory. They were then bundled into a pickup that then sped off to an unknown destination.

According to the children, they later found themselves locked inside an abandoned pit latrine that is in the midst of a bushy private farm near Landless estate, some 10 kilometres away from their home. They spent the night inside the latrine till the following morning when they had partially regained their memory.

At the stroke of dawn Monday morning, the eldest of the four children knocked down a makeshift mabati window shield and assisted the rest to escape through the window. They walked through the bush until they eventually found their way onto the Thika-Garissa Highway.

Meanwhile, their parents, in the company of neighbours and police officers, had spent the night searching for the children but in vain. The search was put on hold at around 3am Monday morning to resume by daybreak.

At around 7am Monday morning, word went round that the children had been found well and sound but weary and very hungry.

The grandmother to two of the siblings, who lived in Ruiru, was the first person to spot them while they walked home through the busy highway. She had heard reports of their loss and boarded a matatu to Gatuanyaga to join the rest in the search. Upon sighting one of her granddaughters, she immediately instructed the driver to stop the vehicle and picked them.

(WATCH VIDEO: Lucky escape for 4 kids kidnapped in Gatuanyaga)

Thika East Deputy Sub-County Police Commander Muthee Nyaga confirmed the incident and promised to do thorough investigations to unearth those behind the heinous act and establish the motive behind the kidnapping. He warned that anyone found culpable would face the full wrath of the law.

For last few months, Gatuanyaga Division has hit the headlines for all the bad news. In a span of 7 months, a child was found murdered with parts of her body missing. Barely two months later, a young man was found murdered and his body skinned at Kwa Waya area.

Even before the dust had settled, a woman was stabbed to death by her husband along the Thika-Garissa Highway near the Del Monte farm while inside their car. Their 6-months old baby was abandoned inside the car but unharmed. The assailant was later cornered by irate residents and lynched.