Two suspected kidnappers were apprehended and subjected to a severe beating after they allegedly abducted two university students in Kitengela, Machakos County, Kenya.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) issued a statement on Thursday, November 2, 2023, revealing that the victims had disappeared on October 27, having been enticed to the kidnappers’ hideout by a female suspect.
The arrested suspects, Brian Ombasa Omoso, 25, and Humphrey Hinga, 22, held the victims captive at an AirBnB located in Elgon View apartments in Kitengela. They demanded a ransom of Sh6 million from the students’ parents.
According to the DCI, the apprehended suspects, who were detained as part of an operation led by the DCI’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau detectives, are believed to have been operating in collaboration with the woman who identified and lured their targeted victims.
The female suspect, who introduced herself to the victims as Debbie Zablon, separately enticed the two students to meet at a common location in Nairobi, subsequently surrendering them to her accomplices.
During the investigation, it was discovered that the female accomplice had used a stolen ID card to register the phone number through which she communicated with the male students. The genuine owner of the ID card had previously reported it as lost at Lang’ata Police Station, effectively exonerating her from any involvement with the suspects.
The DCI also noted that the “terrified and hunger-stricken victims were reunited with their families, but not without a lesson about the existence of individuals willing to go to any lengths for financial gain.”
An imitation pistol, a dagger, subscriber SIM cards used for contacting the parents, counterfeit front and rear car registration plates (KDD 881M) believed to have been employed during their transportation, and an assortment of tools were recovered from the hostage room. Meanwhile, a search is underway for the female wrongdoer who managed to evade capture.
