This archive report was first published on 21 September 2021.
On Sunday, a daring rescue mission unfolded in Lang'ata, Nairobi, as Chief Inspector Justine Ouya, an aircraft engineer at the National Police Service Airwing, thwarted a kidnapping attempt by a 31-year-old suspect, Jackson Mutinda.
According to a statement from DCI Director George Kinoti, the two girls, Judy Nyakio (3) and Teresia Njeri (4), had been lured from their home in Muthurwa by Mutinda, who promised to buy them a soda.
Inspector Ouya, who had just landed from a troops resupply mission, was walking along Langata road when she spotted the suspect holding the girls by their hands. Her intuition and motherly instincts kicked in, and she immediately stopped Mutinda and interrogated him.
After speaking to the minors, Ouya established that Mutinda was not their father, as he had claimed. Further investigation revealed that Mutinda had lured the girls from their home and was planning to take them to an unknown destination.
The suspect is currently in custody at Lang'ata police station, facing charges of Child Trafficking. This incident highlights the growing concern of child kidnappings in Nairobi, with several cases of missing children being found dead in recent months.
As reported by Missing Child Kenya, a non-governmental organisation, there is a fear that a criminal network may be behind these kidnappings. In a separate case, 20-year-old Masden Milimo Wanjala was arrested in July for the disappearance of two boys in Shauri Moyo, and he later confessed to killing and burying more than 10 other children in shallow graves in different parts of Nairobi.
