Body of missing Meru nurse found in Machakos mortuary, 3 policemen arrested

Job Omariba, who was a Meru based nurse, his body was discovered at a bush in Machakos County, police are linked to his kidnapping and murder

NAIROBI, KENYA: The body of a former Meru-based nurse who went missing a week ago has been found in a mortuary in Machakos.

The body of Job Omariba, 28, a former nurse at Meru Mission Hospital had physical injuries on the neck, arms and stomach, an indication he had been tortured, police who saw it said.

His body was collected by police from a thicket in Salama area along Nairobi-Mombasa highway a day after he went missing on August 21.

Police investigations show Omariba was lured to Nairobi by a woman who promised to help him buy a car and grow his meat business in Meru.

Head of Special Crime Prevention Unit Noah Katumo said police traced the body at the mortuary after receiving information from the public.

“We will conduct post mortem exercise on the body to know the cause the death as we continue with the probe,” said Katumo.

Omariba’s body was identified by his relatives including his wife Lucy who broke down at the mortuary.

Three police officers and a taxi driver have been arrested by the police in connection with the abduction and murder of Omariba.

The officers are based at Riruta and Kabete police stations. They were arrested because they were the last people to speak with Omariba.

Police investigators were given ten days to hold the four as the probe goes on.

Detectives privy to the incident said the officers were arrested as they were among the last people to speak to the missing doctor Alex Omariba.

His wife Lucy said she last saw him on Sunday August 21 when he left Meru for Nairobi to meet a friend to show him around for shopping for a car that he wanted.

Lucy said Omariba left Meru for Nairobi because he wanted to buy a Probox car to help him in delivering meat to butcheries he had opened.

She revealed Omariba stopped working as a nurse in Meru in April and ventured into the meat distribution business.

“He left for Nairobi and told me he wanted to buy a car and there was a friend he was to meet to help him get it. I have not heard from him since then,” said Lucy who is also a nurse in Meru.

Police handling the case say Omariba was also spotted along Moi Avenue as he boarded a taxi while in the company of three men on August 21.

The incident comes barely two months after the abduction and murder of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.

The three went missing in July as they drove along Mombasa Road from the Mavoko law courts and their bodies were later found in a river in Ol Doinyo Sabuk.

Four police officers are facing murder charges over the death the three.

The incident caused uproar and street protests.