Billy Munyiri Mwangi, 24, with his parents in Embu after being released by abductors.
“I thank God I’m alive”.
Those are the words of college student Billy Munyiri Mwangi who on Tuesday opened up on his 16-day ordeal at the hands of abductors.
Mwangi was among five Kenyan youth who walked to freedom on Monday after spending weeks in undisclosed detention centres.
Speaking on the matter for the first time after he was discharged from hospital, Mwangi narrated how was captured at a barbershop in Embu town on December 21, 2024, as he waited to be shaven.
When a double-cabin white pick-up pulled up, he said, four hooded men — suspected to be government security agents — alighted, grabbed and dragged him towards the car.
Inside the pick-up, he recalled, he was sandwiched between the hooded men and the vehicle was driven to unknown destination.
"I cannot tell exactly where we were but we drove for several kilometres and I could not tell which direction we took from Embu since I was terrified. On arrival at that place, I was placed in a dark room. They beat me up and I was underfed. I was mentally tortured and I don't remember many things,” Mwangi said at his parents' home in Embu.
“It will take time for me to recollect exactly what happened and recover from the ordeal. Even now I feel mentally disturbed, I'm confused and I can't remember all that happened to me when I was in the hands of my abductors. But despite all that I have forgiven them. I have left them in the hands of God.”
Tortured
He said the torture was the worst he has experienced in his life.
“I have never been in such a situation before but I don’t hold any grudge against the abductors because to err is to human,” he said.
He recollected how he was dropped in Nyeri and travelled by matatu to his Embu home on Monday.
“I’m happy that I was able to locate my home even after going through hell in the hands of my abductors,” he said.
He thanked his parents, neighbours, Embu residents and Kenyans who pushed for his release.
Regina Wairimu, Mwangi’s mother, said she was so excited when her son returned home safely.
"Our son came back home after being set free. We are happy that he is alive. He was coughing a little bit but we took him to the hospital where he was treated and discharged. We thank all those sought divine intervention for him," she said.
Wairimu said children should not be treated as criminals when arrested.
"Children are supposed to be handed over to parents for counseling if they misbehave but not to be mistreated," she said.
'I have forgiven by abductors'
Mwangi’s father Gerald Karicha said the family had forgiven the abductors.
“What happened is bygone. We have our son and that is all what we wanted. He was dropped somewhere in Nyeri and by the grace of God managed to come back home," he said.
Karicha said he owes a lot of respect to all Kenyans and church leaders who rose up in protests, clamouring for the release of his son.
"Kenyans protested and others prayed until my son was freed," he said, adding that all Kenyans should be treated fairly.
"The abductors are humans and they should treat other people with dignity.”
Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji said preliminary observations at the hospital showed that Mwangi was whipped and was seriously traumatised.
“We thank God he will be able to continue with his life," he said.
" We rose up in protest. We made a lot of noise and we have been heard and Mwangi released. Let Mwangi be the last person to go through such an ordeal in this country," he said.
He proposed that the law be changed so that when a person is abducted the government is held fully responsible.
