Three friends missing eight days after Thik trip to buy matatu

 

It started as a call from his friend for a trip to Thika to purchase a new matatu.

But eight days later, the whereabouts of both Fahmi Bakari and his friend Mohammed Hussein is not known.

His family's visits to all police stations in Mombasa have been futile as no police station has any record of their arrest.

According to Fahmi’s brother Athman Bakari, on December 3, Bakari received a call from his friend Hussein to prepare for a trip to Thika where they would accompany someone to purchase a matatu.

Fahmi worked as a tout for matatus plying Bamburi-Kisauni route with Hussein being the driver.

And being out of work for close to two months as their previous vehicle had broken down, Fahmi did not think twice in agreeing to accompany Hussein and the buyer (Masuo Bakari) to Thika.

“He even carried wet clothes which had just been washed and rushed to meet Hussein. He was happy that they will finally be back on the road with a brand new matatu,” he said.

On December 5, the trio set out to return to Mombasa as the purchase of the matatu did not go as planned.

Athman said their 21-year-old brother even called their mother to inform her that he had carried onions and tomatoes for her.

And that was the last time the family heard from their last born son. They only later heard from neighbors that Fahmi and the two others had been kidnapped by unknown people.

Information Fahmi’s family got from Hussein’s family was that they had reached Mariakani traveling back to Mombasa when they were kidnapped.

The vehicle they were driving in was found abandoned in Maungu area by a search party that had been deployed from both families.

“The weird thing about this kidnapping is that everything was intact, the phones were left inside the car, and they had removed all the bling blings they wore. This was a normal kidnap,” he said.

Fahmi’s mother Rahma Athman said she fears for the life of her youngest child.

“If it is police who took him, let them just tell us they have him in their custody and if it's common people who have him, I will give them everything I have to my son back,” she said.

The mother, who has fallen sick since the disappearance of her son, describes him as the most obedient among his children.

Naila Abdalla of Kisauni Sisters for Justice NGO called for the safe return of Fahmi and his friends.

“If it’s the police who took them, there was a better way of arresting them rather than kidnapping them. They should follow the rule of law," she said.

Naila said the recent trends on the disappearance of people have caused fears and jitters among families in the area.    BY THE STAR