How nduthi rider was killed by couple he ferried home on V-Day

For seven days, the family of 21-year-old Paul Ndiba and hundreds of boda boda operators from Njoro have been scouring through various blocks of Eastern Mau Forest looking for him.

Ndiba went missing on February 14, at around 8 pm after he carried a couple who asked him to take them to an unknown destination which later turned out to be his death trap.

He is suspected to have been dumped inside a World War II bomb shelter within Mau Forest where people are camping waiting for his body to be retrieved.

Consequently, two of his alleged killers have been lynched by a mob after they were found in possession of the deceased's motorcycle.

Before being killed, one of the suspects led the mob to the scene and confessed to her friends being part of a motorcycle stealing syndicate.

"Ndiba is always home by 8 pm but on Valentine's Day, he was late. We thought he was having fun. We slept hoping that we would see him in the morning as he has a separate house," Moses Wachira, Ndiba's uncle.

On the morning of February 15, efforts by the family to get in contact with Ndiba were futile with his colleagues revealing that he was last seen carrying two passengers the previous evening.

Tragic end

The search for him or his remains came to a tragic end with a gunny bag reportedly containing his body being spotted in a World War II tunnel within Mau Forest and the subsequent killing of the couple found in possession of his boda boda.

The residents are currently camping at the scene awaiting retrieval and identification.

On February 21, boda boda riders spotted a middle-aged woman identified as one of the clients, who Ndiba carried on his boda boda on the evening he went missing.

"The woman saw us approaching their house and fled. Another young man outside the house sprinted in a different direction," said Nathaniel Kamau, Ndiba's colleague.

The reaction of the two raised suspicion among the riders, some of whom pursued the couple as the rest broke into their rented house.

"Inside the house we found Ndiba's motorbike, which had blood stains on it. It immediately dawned on us that Ndiba was either dead or in danger, and the two were the prime suspects," said Kamau.

A manhunt for the couple ensued through Kwa Wright village, and the two smoked out of their separate hideouts as the police rushed to the house and collected the stolen motorbike.

Irate boda boda riders gave the couple a dog's beating but the two remained tight-lipped on the Ndiba's whereabouts. The beating ended with the male suspect dead and his body set on fire.

The female suspect who saw the fate of her accomplice broke the silence and revealed that they had dumped Ndiba in the forest alive, after which she revealed that they had killed him.

The riders promised to spare her life if she took them to the scene where they had dumped the body.

Body located

The scene happened to be inside one of the vertical entry points of an underground bomb shelter used by soldiers during World War II, over 40 kilometres from where Ndiba had picked his killers.

"It has been a long search, but we are finally relieved that we know what happened to him and where his body is though we haven't managed to retrieve it," said Kamau.

At the scene, angry residents, joined in giving the female suspect a thorough beating and interrogating her on their dealings and other possible accomplices.

"We used another bike to get here. We were three of us. They (two other suspects) had put him in a gunny bag. They left me on the road as they went to dump the body," the suspect confessed.

"I work on the local flower farms. My friends have been doing this in other areas and there is possibly several other bodies inside this pit which I have heard them talk about," she muttered.

This happened in the absence of the police as the riders kept watch of the officers' arrival, determined to ensure that they don't take her from them alive.

Attempts to retrieve the body from the over 100 feet deep vertical entrance by lowering a volunteer using ropes failed as he complained of extreme cold and lack of fresh air.

At around 10 pm, locals frogmarched the female suspect to the deceased's family where they forced her to narrate what happened to the Ndiba before an angry mob dragged her to a nearby road and lynched her.

Coincidentally, this happened as mourners were at Ndiba's home holding a night vigil following the death of one of his uncle's who died in a road accident last week and is yet to be buried.

Pablo Shegu, Njoro boda boda chairperson said that this was the first incident in many years within the area.

"We are in shock but lucky to have exposed this syndicate before they could kill or rob more of our members," said Shegu.

Speaking to The Nairobian, Njoro Sub County Police Commander Isaac Odumbe confirmed the incidents but could not divulge more details.

After long hours of waiting for government assistance, the residents risked their lives and lowered volunteers using ropes which they also used to retrieve the body.