A section of Burma Market traders stormed Shauri Moyo Police Station on Wednesday, May 6, demanding the release of a fellow trader, and market leader.
Michael Mungai, popularly known as "Cheupe", is said to have been abducted by people alleged were policemen on Sunday, May 3. However, police denied the allegations, stating that they conducted no such operation.
"We got a report of the disappearance of a member of the market. This came to us not officially, but was reported by one of them that one of them has not been seen in the market. And seems to have said he has been arrested.
"We immediately took measures and ensured we make a follow-up on what might have happened. We sent officers to the ground and we got information that the said person was not available and had not come back to his house on Sunday," Kamukunji Sub-county Police Commander Adamson Bungei told journalists.
He revealed that a search for Mungai had been launched to establish what really happened to him. They had tracked him for three days prior to locating him at Athi River, Machakos county.
Mungai alleged that the cause of his abduction dated to when he opposed a construction within the market.
"I was opposing construction in the market. They wanted to congest the market, and that is where traders offload goods. It is a parking area, and where fire engines come into the market through. That is where the problems began," Mungai claimed.
He stated that he had been arrested along Jogoo Road, alleging that the abductors had guns, a walkie talkie and chains.
"This person was not under the custody of police. He was not arrested by police. As at now, our men are finding out what might have happened, who might have done this. We can't allow any kind of abduction or any kind of such practice.
"We are looking forward to arresting the perpetrators of the act that has been done against this young man," Bungei stated.
Mungai further claimed that his alleged abductors had handed him a gun and showed him how to use it, which they let him have till May 6. He alleged that their intention was to have his prints on the weapon.
He narrated that the perpetrators went ahead to lock him up in a building under construction at Athi River, tied up with binding wire.
"Apparently upon the stoppage of the project, that was when we got information that one of the market leaders was missing," Kamukuni deputy county commissioner Moses Lilan stated.
Mungai called upon the government to afford him security, alleging that his life was in danger, further revealing that the abductors had threatened to dump him in a sewer.
"I am fighting for the rights of Burma Market traders. This plot is not for construction, and there is a case in court," Mungai asserted.
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