The family of a 24-year-old final year student at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) is seeking help to find their kin who vanished a day after completing a school project.
According to a close friend, Steve Gabriel Osiche was last spotted boarding a matatu at 10pm in Nairobi's South B estate on November 1, heading to the city centre. However, no one is sure if he arrived at his destination.
Osiche's sister, Dorothy Akinyi, stated that she last met with her brother on October 26, when she visited him alongside her husband and son. After sharing a meal, Osiche detailed to her his plans to shoot the video project and requested her to voice it once it was complete.
"My brother is very passionate about media and has always had this dream of owning a production studio,” she stated.
After receiving the script, she voiced and sent it back to him. The following day, Osiche left for school and Akinyi never heard from him again.
"That is when we started asking around. Only his friend in college told us that he saw him board a matatu to town," she stated, pointing out that Osiche would usually call three times a day to checkup on his family, but he did not pick up his phone for two consecutive days.
Osiche's girlfriend, Ann Lumumba, with whom they have a one-year-old son, hinted that the sudden disappearance could be linked to business rivalry.
According to Lumumba, he had recently left a carpentry shop he was working for, citing low payment from the previous employer.
“He told me his previous employer was not happy with his move because most of his clients followed him to the new shop. I suspect that his former employer knows something about his disappearance,” she stated.
However, speaking to the media, his previous employer disputed claims that he was in bad terms with Osiche.
"He came with his friend and they spent some time taking videos of the machines and the staff working. We all know he is so interested in media production that he even enrolled to study it in school. I left and when I came back, he had gone. That was the last time I saw him," he stated.
The family hopes that the government will help them in tracing their loved one. They have since been reported the matter to Kayole Police Station.
According to data from Interpol, over 12,000 missing persons cases have been reported in late 2020. Police have urged families to be wary and take caution in order to ensure the safety of their loved ones.
