Police rescue two abducted city minors
Zadock Angira and Henry Andanje
Police have rescued two minors who were on Saturday kidnapped in Buruburu, Nairobi at the Busia border while being trafficked to Kampala, Uganda.
The minors, aged eight and four, were yesterday rescued by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives, just in the nick of time before they crossed over to Uganda.
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DCI boss George Kinoti (pictured) said the main suspect, the house help identified as Scovia Namataka aged 32, kidnapped the children when their parents travelled to Meru for a relative’s funeral.
“Coordinated efforts between Buruburu’s detectives and their counterparts at Busia border led to the interception of the suspect with the minors in a bus headed to Kampala, Uganda,” the DCI said.
Suspect, a Ugandan, is expected to be charged in court today.
Shocking incident underscores the need to conduct background checks on house helps.
Acting on intelligence, police officers flagged down a bus the minors and the suspect were in. The suspect was shocked and started crying.
She was interrogated and the minors also narrated what had transpired. “The suspect told the children they were going to visit a friend, and given the good relationship, the children did not suspect anything,” a detective told People Daily.
Minor’s parents reported the matter then a search was launched leading to the interception.
Busia County Police Commander John Nyoike said the children were handed over to the Children Protection Unit while the suspect is being held in custody.
“We are waiting for officers from Nairobi who were handling the case before we can arraign the help in court,’’ said Nyoike.
Consequently, police have cautioned parents to be vigilant and always countercheck on details of house girls they hire, especially foreigners.
There has been a slight increase of incidents where house girls vanish with children left under their care and later demand a ransom.
