When he left his home in Mihuti village on the fringes of the Aberdare Forest in Nyandarua to work in Lamu County in 2014, John Muiruri, 52, carried the hopes of his family on his shoulders.
“My husband was in the timber business, which was the only source of livelihood for our eight children. Five of them are now out of school for lack of school fees and have joined me in grieving. They keep asking me where their father is and what happened to him but I also have no answers. We are in pain,” laments Muiruri’s wife Margaret.
The Muiruri family and neighbours are in pain, a testament to the love the community has for its son. Valuables and livestock have been sold in efforts to trace the missing man, who was reportedly among people kidnapped by Al Shabaab militants in Boni Forest in October this year.
Margaret Muigai, the wife of the missing Timber merchant John Muiruri during an interview at her Mihuti Village home, Nyandarua.
Photo credit: Waikwa Maina| Nation Media Group
Despite endless trips to Lamu, the family’s hopes are diminishing. After news of his abduction filtered through, the family raised funds and travelled to Lamu.
They made a report at Hindi Police Station through OB Number 19/03/10/2023 at 3:40 pm. Friends and relatives have been camping at Muiruri’s home, not sure whether or not to mourn, but expecting any news from the government.
“We appeal to Woman Rep Faith Gitau and area MP Kwenya Thuku to consult Interior Cabinet Secretary Kindiki on the whereabouts of my husband. We want him back dead or alive,” said Margaret, fighting back tears.
Her husband was in Boni Forest with his workmates when they were captured by the terror group. They reportedly separated them for questioning at a secret place.
“Some of them were killed in cold blood but two escaped. The killers at one point told my husband’s friends that they had killed him for professing to be a Christian, but his body has never been recovered despite a search by the friends and police. He also carried a power saw that cannot be traced,” said the wife.
“We have conducted several fundraisers and sent people to Lamu to trace him or his body all in vain. We have many unanswered questions… where is he? How come his body was never recovered? Not even a bone to prove he was eaten by wild animals? We will never know peace or rest until we get the truth. It has been torturous to me and our children who keep asking how come only their father went missing,” she says.
Neighbors at Muiruri's home in Mihuti Village, Kinangop.
Photo credit: Waikwa Maina| Nation Media Group
Mr Samuel Njoroge, Mr Muiruri's brother, says they received a message that his brother went missing after an attack by Al-Shabaab who interrogated them.
“We had no money to stay at Lamu longer and considering it was the first time there. Our hearts are troubled until we see my brother. Our hope lies with Interior CS Kindiki. My brother’s son has never missed class but is now home grieving and with no school fees, not sure of the fate of their father. I appeal to CS Kindiki and anyone else with any information about the whereabouts of my brother to have mercy, I plead with them to volunteer any information about my brother,” says Mr Njoroge.
Lucy Wangui, a sister to the missing man, says it’s tormenting when someone vanishes without a trace.
“He regularly called home and timely sent money to his wife and relatives. Muiruri is the last born in our family, the family’s favourite son, a hardworking, jovial and supportive man, a focused and committed family man, but we are here today asking, ‘where are you, what happened to you my dear brother, why you?’
“What does the government know about his disappearance that they won’t tell us? All we want to know is if he is dead or alive, for the sake of his children,” says Ms Wangui.
