Where are our husbands? Wives of missing Nakuru brothers want answers

Beatrice Wanjiru with Rona Moraa displaying the photos of their husbands Vincent Motari and Alfred Omboto during an interview at Ngata within the outskirts of Nakuru city on March 22, 2022. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Two brothers who were picked from a house at Pemways Estate in Kiondo, Nakuru City, over a week ago by people believed to be police officers are yet to be found.

Alfred Omboto, 38, had passed by the house of his brother Vincent Motari, 25, and were preparing to go to work when they were accosted by the people who were in plain clothes.

The captors claimed they were taking the duo for interrogation.

On Wednesday, the wives of the two brothers asked the police to bring them back.

"We want our husbands back, dead or alive," said Motari's wife Beatrice Wanjiru who witnessed the incident.

Motari has a ten-year-old child while Omboto is a father of three children aged 10, eight, and five.

The brothers are casual labourers. They also worked as boda boda riders.

Ms Wanjiru said four men raided her house that morning and forcefully took the brothers away. 

"One of the four men appeared to be the commander the rest. He was bearded. They forced their way into the house, took the two outside and locked me inside the house. I heard one of the men order the rest to handcuffs our husbands. I could not see what was happening outside at that time because I had been locked up," said Wanjiru.

Wanjiru said the brothers were accused of smoking bhang in the house. They later drove off with them, said the tearful woman.

She said she wailed attracting neighbours who came and opened the door for her. By then, the men had already disappeared with the brothers.

"I tried to call their cell phones but there were no responses. By 5pm, their phone had been switched off," said Wanjiru.

She reported the incident at Pemways Police Post through OB 04/13/03/2022. They have been looking for the duo without success.

"We have visited police stations and police posts in Nakuru, Molo, Naivasha and even Nairobi but we have not found them. My husband is the family's only breadwinner. We are appealing to the government to help us find them."

Rona Moraa, Omboto’s wife who spoke from their home in Ngata, Rongai, said she was shocked when she learnt that her husband his brother had been picked by unknown people. 

"I am just hoping my husband will eventually show up. I cant take care of the children all alone. Let those who have taken my husband to bring him back, dead or alive," she said.

Benson Ayuka, a brother to Omboto and Motari, said he called on March 13 to check on his brothers only to be informed that they had been abducted.

"I am suspecting their landlord. I think he knows who took my brothers away. The landlord told me that the people who took my brothers away were officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). I am just wondering how he knew that. I even reported him to the police. He was arrested but released," said Ayuka.  

He said he went to Nakuru Police Station the same evening. Those who had been detained were brought out but his brothers were not among them,” he said.

"I have gone to hospitals and mortuaries in Nakuru, Naivasha and Nairobi, to no avail," Ayuka said.

And on Monday, Ayuka said a stranger called them his brothers had been found by the roadside in critical condition at Kehancha in Kuria within Migori County.

The caller said the duo had actually been taken to a local hospital. 

"I travelled all the way to Kisii only to discover that the caller wanted to take advantage of our desperation to swindle us,” Ayuka said.

He added: "It is wrong for the police to make arrests while in plainclothes. They need to be in uniforms. Criminals have taken advantage of this abduct, rob, and even kill people."

"I fear for my brothers, especially the reports we hear every day of the many people who disappear in similar circumstances only for them to be found dead and maimed, while there are those who disappear completely. We want our brothers back, dead or alive."

Rose Moraa, the eldest sister, described her brothers as hardworking individuals who took care of their families and their sick mother.

She said they have never been arrested or involved in criminal activities and what transpired shocked them.

Christine Adhiambo, a neighbour, said they were taking tea when her daughter informed her that the police were in the compound and were arresting people.

“When I went to check, I saw the two being forced into a white car by four men. The car soon sped off. I did not see the number plate but I believed it was the police,” she said.

Nakuru East sub-county police commander Hellena Kabukuru said police were aware of the case and that the matter had been referred to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for further investigations.