A family in Kakamega County is in distress following the abduction of their kin, a businessman and a cleric at Grace and Truth Fellowship Church, which took place on November 17, 2020.
Armstrong Pino is said to have been whisked out of a vehicle at Kabula shopping centre in Bungoma County, when he was heading home with his two children.
"Two men who were using a black Toyota Prado blocked his car before they jumped out and ordered him to get out. They then pushed him into their car and drove off. Their faces were covered," Pino's son, Daniel Woodbridge narrated.
The family is now calling on Kenyans to help them trace their lost kin.
“We reported the matter at the Kabula police station and it was booked under OB number 10/17/11/2020, but we are yet to receive any information a week later," Woodbridge added.
He stated that they had tried to contact him on phone but they could not reach him as it remained switched off since he disappeared.
The family suspected that he could be in danger or was already harmed and added that no one had reached out to them to demand a ransom.
"We really want to know the root cause of the kidnapping. We call for the investigating agencies to help us find him,” Mildred Pino, the businessman's wife stated.
The family has searched for him in nearby police stations and hospitals as well as mortuaries.
According to a report conducted by the National Crime Research Centre on the case of kidnappings in Kenya in 2018, motives for kidnapping are divided into 3 including; socio-cultural, economic and political.
Under the socio-cultural, the motives for kidnapping are; revenge, sexual gratification, punishment, child custody issues and cultural purposes.
Under the economic reasons, the motives include; ransom payment, extortion, overcoming and/or reducing business, rivalry, protest against economic policies and programs deemed oppressive and competition for resources.
Political reasons include; overcoming or reducing rivalry, protest against economic policies and programs deemed oppressive.
The main organisations that are attempting to address kidnappings in Kenya are the: National Police Service, Judiciary, Kenya Prisons Service, Children Department and Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Others include; Coordination of National Government, NGOs, faith-based Organisations, Probation and Aftercare Service, Immigration Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and mobile service providers.
