The tension over abduction cases has caused unrest in the country over the last three months. And as Kenyans cope with these cases, the transport was paralysed for over seven hours at a highway along the Nyeri-Nyahururu road after residents from Kieni West protested a suspected abduction case.
Angry residents blocked the road with stones and thorns, protesting a case of a young man who went missing mysteriously earlier in the week.
The middle-aged man by the name of Simon Githinji is said to have gone missing on Wednesday after his motorcycle was recovered on Thursday at a local firm and his mobile found at a privately owned ranch, raising eyebrows among the residents.
Demanding his release, the residents lit up tires on the road along the said ranch, claiming that the ranch owners have been frustrating them and might be behind the mysterious missing case.
Attempts by the police to calm the angry residents and return the busy road to normalcy bore no fruit.
"We went to the police, and they tried to help us, but they delayed for too long, and we had to take matters into our own hands. According to their reports, he was found in Busia in a hospital; there were so many inconsistencies," one of the residents revealed.
According to Githinji's family, the young man, a farmer, and a boda boda rider left home on Wednesday and never returned. The locals threatened to storm the ranch, claiming that the man was held there.
The locals revealed that they have had unhealthy relationships with the ranchers following increased cases of human-wildlife conflict, where wild animals stray from the ranch and destroy their firm's produce.
The residents have numerously complained of hyenas, elephants, and lions destroying crops and killing domestic animals. On their part, the ranchers had also complained that the locals stormed into the ranch and grazed their domestic animals in the fields.
"These people have been frustrating us, leaving the animals to stray around, harming us, our plants, and putting us in danger. Is it a crime to be their neighbours?" another resident questioned.
Transport returned to normalcy after seven hours of motorists being stranded. Motorists had to wait for the residents, police and the ranchers resolve the case. Some media reports indicate that Githinji was found alive, abandoned near the ranch. However, we haven't independently verified these reports.
The residents are now calling for justice to block such incidents from happening in the future.
As cases of abduction continue to increase in the country, Kenyans have resorted to taking action by protesting.
