Sh100,000 ransom ends kidnap ordeal

It never occurred to Mr Waweru Kagwari that his generosity would one day land him in a den of kidnappers. But that happened last week, when a group of three men he had offered to help turned against him and held him captive for 10 days.

Waweru, 22, narrated his ordeal to the Nation on Wednesday, hours after his family’s Sh100,000 ransom to the kidnappers earned him freedom. He joined a growing list of victims of a kidnap syndicate that has been operating in Nairobi since early last year, and which seems to be evading the law.

Waweru, who works as a driver, was walking to his parent’s home in Ngong on Monday last week when a car stopped a few metres ahead and one of the occupants beckoned him. “There were three men inside. They greeted me and asked for directions, and I was glad to help. The conversation was very cordial, so, when they offered me a ride, I obliged.”

Big mistake

No sooner had he entered the car than everything went blank. He woke up on a bed much later, probably the following day, neither knowing where he was nor how he got there. A man wearing a black balaclava sat on the bedside, scrolling through his captive’s phone. “He demanded that I show him the contacts of my father, mother, brothers and other relatives,” he said.

His captors used his phone to send text messages (SMS) to his parents, and occasionally allowed him to receive phone calls from his parents during which he was ordered to plead with them to cooperate with the captors lest he be killed.

His father on Wednesday showed the Nation one of the SMSs which read: “Tumependa kukueleza kwamba sisi ndio tumemteka nyara kijana wako. Ingekuwa vyema kama hatungekwambia ili tumtoe kafara kwanza, lakini wametosha. Mwanao atakuwa huru kama utatoa Sh150,000. Thanks, by NATAS SI DOG. (We would like to inform you that we kidnapped your son. We intended to offer him as a sacrifice but we have made enough. He will be free if you give us Sh150,00).” ‘NATAS SI DOG’, in reverse, reads ‘SATAN IS GOD’.

The abductors instructed the father, Mr Kagwari Waweru, to send the money in three instalments to his son’s phone via M-Pesa. The Nation later learnt that the money was withdrawn in Ongata Rongai and Bungoma.

After ten days of horror, he was released along Nairobi’s River Road, and told to walk away without looking back. The captors had also seized Waweru’s national identity card, and ordered him to scribble his signature and one of them is believed to have used it to withdraw money from an M-Pesa agent.

However, it does not require an ID card or signature to withdraw money from M-Pesa account using the ATM services. At 9 pm on Tuesday, the family arrived at the city centre to meet Waweru, following instructions via SMS by the kidnappers.

The family waited until 1am, when they found him stranded near Kenya Cinema. Waweru told the Nation that he was blindfolded before leaving the dark room and his captors led him to a car. “We rode for close to five hours, at times on smooth services like tarmac but kept on diverting to what felt like rough roads. It’s impossible to tell the routes we took,” said Waweru.

Finally, the journey came to an end and the blind fold was removed. “Before my eyes could adjust to the light, I was ordered out of the car. They told me to walk and not turn back, threatening to shoot me dead if I attempted to,” he said.

Minutes later he realised he was abandoned on River Road but continued to walk on. He also realised that he had his phone in the pocket and when he switched it on, a call from his father came in. After 10 days of horror, he was met by his father accompanied by other relatives outside the movie theatre.