Man, lover, two others arrested for abducting Kabarak university student

Police have arrested four suspects for kidnapping a female student from Kabarak University and holding her hostage against her will for five days.

Daisy Chebet Barno, a Fourth Year student at the Nakuru-based university, went missing on Thursday, January 26, 2023, before being rescued on Monday.

One of Daisy's female classmates, Faith Mwende, reportedly conspired with her 39-year-old boyfriend, Simon Akuteka, and two other individuals namely;  John Mbau,38, and Elijah Chege, 31, to abduct her and demand for ransom from her kin.

On the day of the incident, Akuteka reportedly invited Daisy out for lunch and convinced her that Mwende would join them later.

"Daisy obliged and got into Akuteka’s car, which detectives later learnt belonged to a car hire agent based in Nairobi," the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said in a statement.

"Once in the car, Akuteka drove towards Kabarak after excusing himself to pick up a parcel. However, along the way, he stopped the car suddenly and two men got into the vehicle."

The trio informed Daisy of her predicament before demanding a Ksh.600,000 ransom from her kin.

They then made their way to Ruiru, Kiambu County where they rented out a two-bedroom Airbnb and locked Daisy inside one of the rooms.  

Mwende would later join them at the Airbnb. In hopes of retrieving their kin, Daisy's family sent the abductors an initial Ksh.50,000 as they sourced for the remaining ransom. The suspects reportedly gobbled up the pay-off as they jovially waited for the remaining sum.

"Unknown to the thugs, detectives who had received a distress call from Daisy’s family were closely monitoring their movements as they operated between Thika, Murang’a, Kajiado and Ruiru during the day, in a bid to outwit the officers," said the DCI.

Detectives at the DCI's Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau however managed to pinpoint the abductors location before making their way to the Airbnb where the suspects were laying low.

"A brief altercation ensued as the sleuths introduced themselves to the thugs, after they defied orders to surrender and engaged the officers in a fistfight," said the DCI.

"Following the successful raid also supported by detectives drawn from DCI Nakuru and Ruiru, all the four suspects were arrested and Daisy rescued."

A sellotape, a rope, several SIM cards and mobile phones as well as the victim's ID card were recovered from the suspects.

The DCI also revealed that Akuteka, Mbau and Chege are habitual offenders with a number of pending cases in court.

"The main suspect Simon Akuteka is a fugitive who has several cases of stealing motor vehicles pending before court in Nairobi and Kisumu," said the DCI.

"The second suspect John Mbau, 38, also has similar motor vehicle stealing cases pending before several courts, while the third Elijah Chege, 31, is a small-time miscreant based at Witeithie, who was recently introduced to serious crimes."

The quartet will remain in custody pending arraignment while Daisy has since been reunited with her family.