A suspected serial kidnapper was nabbed by detectives after they laid a trap on him while he was prowling on his next victim.
Mtwapa police boss Mohamed Wako detailed how officers lured the suspect Joseph Wamalwa Wafula was wanted over various rape and kidnapping cases in the coastal area.
Wako was quoted by the Nation stating that Wamalwa had contacted a woman and she suspected his motives and reported him to the police.
When officers launched investigations they established that the suspected serial kidnapper had pending cases and was wanted by authorities.
Detectives then set up a meeting with Wamalwa and a female cop who posed as a woman in need of a job and police moved in to arrest him when they met.
According to police boss Wako, the suspect lured young women with false promises of being able to secure jobs for them before kidnapping and asking their families for ransom.
“Police officers had been looking for him. He has several cases reported at the Nyali, Kongowea and Mtwapa police stations. He asked for between Sh30,000 and Sh50,000," Wako told the Nation.
Families in Mombasa were living in fear after an increase in armed abduction of people from their homes in the coastal city.
In January, 2021, over 30 cases of the mysterious disappearance of individuals were recorded in 2020 in Mombasa.
In one instance, a man, Omar Seif Abdalla, was taken from his family in December 2020 by gunmen and according to an eye witness, they fired shots multiple times before they whisked him away.
"I saw the people were wearing black uniforms. I was shocked why those people, who were many, had come to our place. I hugged my children. Five minutes later, they started banging on the door while shouting out names," she narrated to Citizen TV.
Another separate incident that was reported was that of David Taituni who went missing for over five months and his abductors were recorded on CCTV camera bundling him into a car.
General Francis Ogolla is Dead, Ruto Confirms Breaking News
