A man who has been missing for missing for more than three months after he was allegedly abducted has been found alive.
Mr Simon Muteti, who was allegedly kidnapped by persons believed to be police officers on October 22, 2024, in Timau, Laikipia county, was found after searching by friends and family.
On Tuesday, Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo said Mr Muteti had been reunited with his family.
Although found alive, Ms Odhiambo said that Mr Muteti was deeply shaken by the ordeal he underwent at the hands of his abductors, whom the LSK alleged were members of the Special Operations Unit in Timau.
Mr Muteti's case was made public by the LSK in January 2025, after his family reached out to the society for legal aid.
“This troubling case underscores an alarming trend of enforced disappearances not only in urban centres like Nairobi but across the country,” Ms Odhiambo said.
The LSK then revealed that around the same time Mr Muteti’s case was brought to its attention, another family from Garsen, Tana River County, also reported a case of a missing relative.
The family, represented by Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, had come to report that his father, Abdullahi Ahmed, who had been taken into custody at Garsen Police Station, went missing on October 5, 2024.
These cases prompted the LSK to intensify its efforts to provide legal aid, gather information, support affected families and raise awareness, through partnerships with other organisations.
The release of Mr Muteti comes a month after five young men who had been abducted last December were released by their captors.
These men include Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Kibet Bulll, Rony Kiplagat and Benard Kavuli.
Mr Mwangi was picked up by a good Samaritan who handed him over to his family members, Peter Muteti was found alive at the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
Mr Kiplagat who was abducted in Kikuyu was found in Machakos, Kavuli was found in Kitale and Mr Bull in Vihiga.
Unlike the aforementioned men who came back alive after being held incommunicado by their captors, the bodies of two men, Martin Mwau and Justus Mutumwa, who were abducted in Mlolongo, Machakos county last December, were found at Nairobi Funeral Home.
In all these cases, the victims’ families and eye witnesses insist that they were all abducted by persons believed to be state security agents.
However, the National Police Service, through statements made by its spokesperson, as well as when being represented by its senior officers in court, has denied any kind of involvement in the disappearance and resurfacing of the youth.
