Police on Sunday, June 20, 2021, rescued Easteigh businesswoman Hafsa Mohamed Lukman who was kidnapped nearly one week ago.
Hafsa, 23, was kidnapped on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at her shoe shop in Eastleigh’s Kamukunji Trading Centre, with her alleged kidnappers demanding Kh5 million ransom.
Hafsa was rescued in Kayole Matopeni slum – where she was found abandoned inside a house.
Family told the Standard that they did not pay any ransom as had been earlier alleged.
“The kidnappers had left a notebook they were using while asking for ransom at the entrance of the house. It is the notebook that drew the attention of neighbours,” Kayole DCIO Rioba Gisiri said.
Gisiri confirmed that Hafsa was found on Sunday at around 10am, in a stable condition.
According to the police, neighbours heard Hafsa screaming for help – before they moved to inform police.
Hafsa was taken to Kayole Police Station where she recorded a statement.
Police have since recovered a surveillance camera recordings from her shop which showed Hafsa entering her shop at around 4:44pm – and which police are trying to use to aid their investigations.
The kidnappers are still at large.
Kidnappers targeting Somali girls
There have been rising cases of kidnappings targeting Somali girls. The Somali community leaders in the Coast Region have called upon the Directorate Criminal Investigations (DCI) to immediately investigate kidnappings and killings of Somali girls in the country.
The leaders urged the police to seriously probe the matter, saying it has gone out of hand.
Two girls have already been buried in Mombasa County, while five others are missing in Nairobi County.