How I lost my baby to two crafty women

Ms Millicent Akinyi Ayoo at the Nation offices in Nairobi on September 30, 2014. PHOTO | WILLIAM OERI |

What you need to know:

  • The bus sped off with two women who had Ms Akinyi's son.
  • Ms Akinyi went to Mwiki, then Kayole police stations but there was no trace of Emmanuel.

A bus ride to Nairobi city centre would have been just another day for Ms Millicent Akinyi Ayoo, 28, and her two children.

But September 27 is a day she will remember in agony as her two-year-old son, Emmanuel Kizito, disappeared right before her eyes.

“I boarded a bus in Ngong to visit my cousin in Kayole. I needed to get to town first then connect by matatu to her place. It was around 7pm.

“I went to the back of the bus carrying my son Emmanuel, and holding his older sister Gillian, 7. I found two of the five seats at the back of the bus occupied by two women. I placed Emmanuel on a seat next to the women as I settled down.

“The woman seated next to us offered to carry Emmanuel as the bus drove off.

“It was noisy but I noticed that, the woman beside me received two or three phone calls. The woman next to me was identified as Wambui by the one next to the window.

“I heard her tell the caller that she had just bailed out the woman she was with from a police cell. I found this conversation odd. The woman by the window had dyed her hair brown and looked unkempt. In fact, I think they smelt of miraa and alcohol.

BUS SPED OFF

“I told the woman to hand over Emmanuel when we got close to Ambassador bus stop opposite Kencom but she said they were also alighting as they were going to Mwiki and needed to catch a matatu,” she said.

“I was carrying Gillian and stepped off the bus and waited for the women. But, the bus sped off before they alighted. I realised then that it was running away from the County Council askaris. The bus went faster and I could not catch up. I knew it was headed to the Railways stage so I ran after it,” she said.

When she got to the Railways station bus stop she could not identify the vehicle. It then dawned on her that she had lost her son.

“I panicked and approached a traffic policeman for assistance but he brushed me off. I walked to the Railways police station and reported the case. It was around 8pm.”

Ms Akinyi went to Mwiki, then Kayole police stations but there was no trace of Emmanuel.