MOMBASA: Parents of 3 missing Nyali girls arrest suspect

Parents of three Standard Eight pupils who were allegedly abducted by a boda boda rider have ‘arrested’ the suspect.

The parents went to Bombolulu area in search of the alleged abductor after police seemed reluctant to help them arrest the suspect.

Before the parents took matters in their own hands they engaged in a heated argument with officers at the Dog Section Police Station in Kisauni.“How can we go to arrest a suspect? The place is dangerous [and] we need armed police escort. We will identify the suspect please accompany us,” cried one of the parents.

But the four police officers at the station told them off.

“We have managed to trace his movements within Kwa Bulo and Bombolulu workshop area. Go and call us once you’ve found him,” one of the police officers told the parents.

One of the parents broke down at the station as he begged the police officers to help them.

“Go, arrest him and bring him here,” a senior police officer handling the matter was heard saying at the station.

On Thursday, the police and the parents spent the night in search of the suspect, Mr Wilson Katana alias Simba and the missing girls, namely: Mercy Upendo (14), Joanita Chepchumba (14) and Keri Semi (14). 

After the police refused to assist them, the parents drove off to Bombolulu workshop area where they saw the man with a customer and laid a trap for him. One of one of the abducted girl’s relative posed as a passenger and asked to be ferried to Nyali supermarket.

But on reaching National Industrial Training Authority off Malindi-Mombasa highway, the relative disguised asked the boda boda rider to drop him off.

But as he was pretending to pay his fare, some of the relatives who were trailing the boda boda pounced on the man and seized him.

The family of the three missing girls begged him to reveal the whereabouts of the minors but he refused to diverge more information.

“I just accommodated them for one night and they left on Thursday midday. Give me time and I will reveal their whereabouts. At the moment I don’t know where they are,” he said as he pleaded with the relatives to let him go.

The family later drove the man to the Kisauni police station the boda boda operator was interrogated by senior police officers. He was later handcuffed and taken to Nyali Police Station.

When asked, Mombasa police boss Johnston Ipara said the matter was reported to the police by Ms Nancy Obiero, a teacher at Rise and Shine Academy, and one of the missing girl’s parents, Ms Emily Nanjala.

“They went missing on March 13, at around 8pm. The three pupils sneaked out of the school. Their whereabouts is still unknown but a signal has been made countrywide and our officers have already interrogated the head teacher,” Mr Ipara said. 

He said police will issue updates on the girls in two days.