Mystery surrounds missing taxi driver

A taxi driver's family is living in agony after he disappeared early this year.

Mr Samuel Thairu (right), who operated a taxi in Eldoret town, went missing on February 2.

His wife, Rebecca Thairu, said she and her three children had now resorted to prayers as they waited for news about him.

Mrs Thairu, who lives in Mwanzo estate, said on the day he vanished, her husband was hired by a client who wanted to be taken to Siaya.

The journey started at around 8.30 p.m., said Mrs Thairu, who identified the client as a Kenya Defence Forces officer based at Moi Barracks on the outskirts of the town.

INVESTIGATIONS YIELD NOTHING

Three days after her husband’s disappearance, she reported the matter to the Eldoret Police Station, but investigations have yielded nothing.

“It is almost three months since my husband went missing. We have searched for him everywhere. We are appealing to whoever might be holding him to release him,” Mrs Thairu pleaded.

Mr George Mwangi, a close friend of Mr Thairu, said he lent him his car for the Siaya trip as his had mechanical problems.

He and Mr Thairu picked up the client at West Indies estate in Eldoret town.

“Thairu asked me to lend him my car to take a friend, a KDF officer, to his rural home in Siaya. I asked to see the client before they left. We picked him up and I assessed him to be a good person. They dropped me off at my house and proceeded with the journey in the company of another young man,” Mr Mwangi said.

“I communicated with my friend several times and he kept assuring me all was well until his phone went off. After two days, we suspected something was amiss and reported the matter to the police. We also travelled to the officer’s home in Siaya, where we were told the three left two days earlier,” he said.

A check at Moi Barracks revealed that the officer in question had resumed duty but had been posted to Somalia on Amisom duties.