A family in Kiambu County is relieved after their missing relative, who was reportedly abducted during the anti-government protests was found alive and safe.
28-year-old Joseph Mwangi, also known as Mwas, was blindfolded and driven to an unknown location after his alleged abduction from Githurai 45 on June 18.
He recalls being moved between multiple police stations, noting that he was at Muthaiga Police Station on Monday, July 15, and released the following day.
However, a check of the station’s records reveals no record of Mwangi’s arrest.
After he reappeared, the family visited the Kasarani police station to withdraw a missing person report filed 8 days after his disappearance.
“On June 26, we came here and reported him missing after intense pressure from his sister,” said Mwangi’s mother, Tabitha Wanjiru Kairu.
Mwangi was reportedly abducted along with a group of youth during a police crackdown.
“I was at Githurai 45, coming from work that evening. So, we were captured, blindfolded, and from there I don’t know where we were taken,” he recounted.
He described how his abductors blindfolded him whenever they moved him from one location to another.
“It was many places, but I was blindfolded and taken to a place I don’t know. I just found myself in a room in some unknown place,” he added.
Family Search in Hospitals and Mortuaries
The family began searching in hospitals and morgues after he failed to return for several days.
“The worst thing is to search for someone when you don’t know whether they are alive or dead. When we went to the morgues, we had to look at all the bodies,” his mother said.
Wanjiru explained that the family endured immense pain, crying constantly without time to pray or even eat.
“I would not wish for another parent to go through what we experienced in the last month,” Wanjiru said.
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Lawyers Condemn Protests Related Abductions
While condemning the abduction, members of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) said it left Mwangi traumatized.
“The agony the parents of Mwangi went through is unimaginable. We have seen other parents whose children were found in dumpsites and coffee farms,” said lawyer Stephen Mbugua.
“Last week, during the citizens’ assembly, everyone watching saw how the mother pleaded for help in finding her son,” Advocate Teresia Wavinya Nicholas added.
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Mwangi found himself at Muthaiga Police Station where he was mysteriously released at night on July 16, almost a month after his abduction.
“He was released at the same police station after being brought back from the facility where they were being held,” Mbugua stated.
Lawyers and human rights groups fear there could be more unreported cases of demonstrators being abducted by unidentifiable men believed to be police officers.
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