Irene Nduta,30, who was abducted by unknown people and later dumped unconscious at Soilo in Nakuru County.
When 30-year-old Irene Nduta left her workplace in Nakuru town on the evening of November 30, she expected to be home within minutes as usual.
After alighting from a matatu, she took the familiar short walk she had made countless times—quick, routine and seemingly safe. But that evening, she never arrived home.
Instead, her journey turned into a terrifying abduction that plunged her family into days of panic, despair and frantic negotiations with faceless criminals.
She was later found unconscious a few kilometres from her home after the abductors dumped her and fled. She is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Nakuru City.
Her father, Onesmus Chege, a businessman, still trembles as he recounts the ordeal, describing it as “the longest and darkest days of our lives.”
According to him, Ms Nduta failed to arrive home and when he tried calling, her phone went unanswered. At first, the family hoped she had been delayed or that her phone was on silent.
By 9pm worry began to creep in. He called workers at his workshop, who confirmed that Ms Nduta had left for home. Hours later, their worst fears materialised.
Irene Nduta,30, who was abducted by unknown people and later dumped unconscious at Soilo in Nakuru County.
At around 11pm Mr Chege’s phone rang. It was his daughter’s number—but the voice on the other end was a chilling one. The kidnappers warned him that Ms Nduta would be harmed if he involved the authorities.
“My daughter never just goes silent as she always calls,” he said.
“They told me they had my daughter and that they would kill her if I didn’t cooperate. We had no time to think, no room to process. Our daughter’s life depended on decisions made within hours. I panicked. We reported the matter at Central Police Station and the officers referred us to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.”
Shortly after, the kidnappers called again with a ransom demand of Sh50,000 if the family wanted Nduta back alive. If not, they threatened, they would “send her head.”
The abductors, who were using Nduta’s phone, sent a photo of her bound hand and foot inside a small mud-walled house. They called repeatedly—sometimes issuing threats, sometimes hurling insults, sometimes remaining eerily silent.
The family did not have anywhere near the Sh50,000 being demanded. They tried negotiating, but at first the kidnappers were unyielding. The threats intensified. At one point, they told Mr Chege that his daughter’s fate was “now in his hands.”
After hours of tense negotiation, the kidnappers finally agreed to accept Sh20,000. They instructed that the money be sent strictly via mobile money—through Nduta’s own phone.
Mr Chege followed every instruction, and as soon as the money was transferred, the callers switched off the phone.
Released unconscious
On Tuesday morning, the kidnappers called, this time using the family’s house manager’s phone. Their tone was cold and emotionless.
“They just said we will dump her near your home,” Mr Chege recalled.
“The second call was at 8am, confirming they had dumped her. We went to inform the DCI and while we were on our way back, I received word that she had been found. She was lying on the ground, unconscious. Her body was weak and we rushed her to the hospital,” he said.
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While Nduta is now receiving treatment and counselling, her family says she has barely spoken about what happened during her captivity. Doctors say she is stable but traumatised and will need psychological support.
For Mr Chege, the trauma remains raw. He is grateful his daughter is alive, but the pain of those days will stay with him for a long time. He now hopes police will intensify investigations and arrest the abductors so they do not harm others.
“I paid them everything I had. But money means nothing compared to a child’s life. I just want justice for my daughter. I don’t want another father to go through what I went through. No one deserves this. She is in a stable condition now, though she cannot speak,” he said.
Nakuru County Criminal Investigation Officer (CCIO) Samuel Ngeiywa said investigations are ongoing. He noted that they are yet to record the victim’s statement, which will guide their inquiry.
“She is still inthe hospital. She requested we take her statement tomorrow, which will help us establish the number of kidnappers, where they took her and the M-Pesa transaction details used to withdraw the money. For now, we have scattered information. Her statement will help us a lot,” said Mr Ngeiywa.
