Joy as Nairobi family reunites with daughter kidnapped by house help

Baby Annabelle reunites with her father at CID headquarters in Nakuru. [PHOTO: HENRY KWENYA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: It was joy and celebration for Gibson Njagi's family Thursday after they were reunited with their daughter who had been kidnapped.

Baby Annabelle Wanjiku, who is two years and nine months old, had been reported missing from her home in Zimmerman, Nairobi since Monday.

The minor had been kidnapped by a househelp who had been employed barely four days by the family.

The househelp, identified as Joyce Nekesa from Bungoma County, later abandoned the girl at a hotel and a Good Samaritan reported the incident to Nakuru CID headquarters.

The hotel operator, Miriam Wanjiru, said the woman carried the minor to the hotel at around 8am on Tuesday but abandoned her, claiming she was going to pick money at a bank.

WENT MISSING

Mr Njagi, the child's father, said he had gone to work on Monday and found his daughter and the househelp missing when he returned.

He then reported the matter at Kasarani Police Station.

Njagi said they had hired the househelp from a bureau in Zimmerman estate but she presented them with a waiting card and a police abstract as her identification documents.

Ms Nekesa, he said, left with his wife's ATM card and a document she had presented and later called the family demanding a ransom of Sh20,000 and Mrs Njagi's ATM PIN number.

On Tuesday, she called back demanding an extra Sh1,500 to buy food for the child.

He was then called by CID officers in Nakuru to identify a child taken there.

He said finding his daughter still feels like a dream and the family is grateful to God.