How Nairobi woman was abducted and robbed of Sh550,000
A businessman who allegedly abducted a woman along Kamiti Road in Nairobi, robbed her of a mobile phone before transferring Sh550,000 from her bank account is facing charges of robbery with violence.
Peter Mugira is accused of violently robbing Esther Wanjiru Kinyua of her mobile phone and personal documents before transferring the cash during the incident that happened on March 10, 2023. He is alleged to have threatened to use actual violence on the victim during the incident.
On that day, Ms Kinyua was stopped by a motorist who told her that he was operating a taxi hailing app. He offered to drop her at a matatu stage so that she could board a matatu to her workplace.
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Shortly after she boarded, the driver started driving in the opposite direction. The driver then drew a knife and ordered Ms Kinyua to give him Sh50,000 failure to which he would kill her.
The suspect then blindfolded the victim and drove her to an unknown place. Another person later boarded the vehicle but Ms Kinyua could only listen to their conversation. The two then took her ATM card and mobile phone and forced her to disclose the PIN numbers.
They later dropped and left her stranded after transferring Sh550,000 from her bank account to other mobile phone numbers. Ms Kinyua was later helped to a nearby police station where she made a report over the incident.
While the same was happening, police officers who were on patrol received the information from members of the public that Ms Kinyua was in the hands of kidnappers and pursued the car Mr Mugira and his accomplice were using.
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The officers traced the motorists to Kiwanja area within Kasarani Sub County where they arrested Mr Mugira but his accomplice escaped.
The police officers recovered a knife, three mobile phones including Ms Kinyua’s phone and her ATM card inside the car. Also recovered was a bank statement for Ms Kinyua’s account.
Mr Mugura allegedly admitted to the officers that he had abducted Ms Kinyua. He was held in custody at Kasarani Police Station together with the car. Ms Kinyua was later and she positively identified the suspect as the person who abducted her.
Mr Mugira denied the charges before Principal magistrate Hellen Okwani of Makadara Law Courts and was released on a bond of Sh1 million. The case will be mentioned on June 6, 2023 before hearing starts on September 13, 2023.