Kidnapped boy finally in safe hands

By CYRUS OMBATI

A four-year old boy who was kidnapped a week ago was on Thursday found alive abandoned in a taxi in Westlands area, Nairobi.

It is, however not clear if the parents of the boy had paid ransom that was demanded by the kidnappers.

Neither police nor the parents wanted to discuss this.

The kidnappers had hiked their ransom demand to Sh50 million after they abducted the boy from Muthaiga area last Thursday as he was being driven from school.

They however negotiated the fee down to Sh5 million via the Internet that they switched to after realizing mobile phones were setting them up.

Police said a taxi driver took the child to Central police station on Thursday morning after he was abandoned in the car by a man who vanished.

The taxi driver told police the man who had the boy had on Thursday at about 3 am asked him to drop him in Sarit Centre in Westlands.

"They agreed he would pay Sh500 from Ronald Ngala/Moi Avenue junction in the city centre to Sarit Centre before the man boarded with the child," said Nairobi Area PCIO Peter Muinde.

On reaching in Westlands’ Oilibya petrol station, about less than a kilometer from the intended destination, the man told the driver to stop near an ATM machine to enable him get cash.

After alighting from the taxi, the man never returned. The driver said he waited for almost an hour before deciding to drive the child to a police station.

At the police station, officers there raised their superiors who in turn called the parents of the child. The parents identified their child before he was taken to a city hospital to ascertain if he was well.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said detectives were waiting for the counselors and parents of the child to first talk to him before they could also try to interrogate him.

"The boy can talk and we are waiting for the best time to talk to him. He could be of great help in this case," said Kiraithe.

Kiraithe added they were yet to get the kidnappers but efforts to do so were ongoing Thursday.

How it started

The boy was kidnapped last Thursday as he was being driven home from school in Muthaiga area in the city.

The kidnapers then made a call to the boy’s family and first demanded Sh4 million, hiked it to Sh50 million before climbing down to Sh5 million ransom..

The boy was being driven in a white salon car from school on Thursday afternoon when gunmen blocked the driver and later took control of the vehicle.

The gunmen later dumped the driver near Village Market and drove off with the boy on board. Police investigating the case said the car was later found abandoned near Wilson Airport.

It was until last Saturday that the suspected kidnappers made a demand to the boy’s father identified as Fred Rabong’o, a businessman based in the city.

Officers from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit and Flying squad had been combing city estates in search of the boy in vain.

An officer said the kidnappers seemed to be changing their positions hence making it difficult for them to locate them.

Kiraithe said police knew where the child was being held but feared to storm in as that could harm him.

Abductions had been on the decrease after police cracked 12 kidnap rings in which suspects had evaded arrest since 2009.

At least 10 suspected kidnappers have been shot dead, 20 others arrested, and 10 are still at large since the crackdown began in 2010.

Kiraithe said the operation was launched following "national outcry" over emergence of kidnapping as the latest crime trend.

In 2010 65 abductions were reported to police compared to 84 in 2009.

"Cracking kidnap syndicates is usually challenging to the police because there is always a life at stake. It also involves very traumatised relatives who must gain confidence to cooperate with the police. And the criminals are usually very scheming," said Mr Kiraithe.

Mr Kiraithe said the recently established crime intelligence unit at CID headquarters has been fully equipped with technology to track down kidnappers who depend on mobile phones to operate in their crimes.

Mobile phone tracking equipment installed at the CID has proved to be important as detectives are now able to thwart the abductors before they collect ransom.

For instance, when an abduction is reported, and the criminals have established contact with the victim's family, detectives activate a mobile tracking device to locate the signal from the abductors' mobile phones.