Body of missing man retrieved from manhole after tip off from suspected kidnapper

By Cyrus Ombati

NAIROBI, KENYA: The body of a man who went missing in July 2013 has been found in a manhole near Kamiti prisons in Nairobi.

The 29-year-old man went missing in a suspected kidnap incident from the nearby Kahawa West area as he was on duty and had not been traced.

Police said they had arrested one suspect in connection with the murder and is the one who led them to the manhole on Wednesday.

According to Kasarani Division CID boss Valerian Obore, the victim was a caretaker of a factory in Kahawa West before he went missing.

He said they had been investigating the incident before the suspect whom they arrested earlier in the week confessed the killing and spot where he and others dumped the body.

“We are yet to know the motive of the murder so far but we have a suspect and have so far retrieved the bones of the man. The family who stays in Kikuyu has been informed,” said Obore.

It was drama as police arrived at the manhole on the roadside near the main gate of Kamiti prisons to retrieve the remains.

Obore said the suspect had informed them they held the victim for few days before they strangled him and later dumped the body in the hole.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing with an aim of getting more suspects. Such murder incidents are common in Nairobi and police rarely crack them because they lack the capacity and drive to do so.