This archive report was first published on 25 July 2021.
On a typical December day in 2018, Antony Njoroge, a 40-year-old taxi driver, was at his usual pick-up spot in Murang'a when a well-dressed woman requested a ride to Kiharu Estate, a short distance from the town centre.
She introduced herself as a nurse based at Murang'a County Hospital and promised Njoroge another job after the initial ride. The two agreed on a fare of Sh6,000 for the trip to Kitengela, which Njoroge considered a good amount of money.
However, things took a dark turn when Njoroge received a call from the woman the next day, directing him to pick her up from her workplace. She was wearing a white coat and carrying a small handbag, and Njoroge noticed that she was avoiding eye contact and chatting on her phone throughout the journey.
They stopped briefly at Kenol town, where the woman bought painkillers and offered Njoroge a drink, which he declined since he was driving. She then suggested a stopover at a nyama choma joint along Ruiru Bypass for lunch, where she bought two bottles of water and handed one to Njoroge.
But just a few minutes later, Njoroge started feeling dizzy and nauseated. He pulled over, and another vehicle blocked him from behind. The woman slapped him and then men from the other vehicle approached him, forcing him to take some tablets. Njoroge blacked out and has no recollection of what happened next.
He woke up in a hospital bed at Kenyatta National Hospital, where nurses informed him that he had been in a coma for a month and was lucky to be alive. A police officer later told Njoroge that he had been abandoned in a thicket at Mtito Andei and was found alive by truck drivers who alerted the police.
Two years later, Njoroge says the incident left him traumatized and with a lot of pain. He advises fellow taxi drivers to always interrogate their clients, keep a record of their identity, and keep tabs with a colleague.
