Two men had been arraigned at a Nairobi court and charged with abducting a person contrary to the law.
Ian Osoro Morara and Kelvin Nyakwama Nyabuto were charged that on November 11, 2023, at Imara Daima within Nairobi county in the Republic of Kenya, they abducted Ephantus Ngari Nyaga with the intent to have him secretly and wrongly confined.
They further faced another charge of theft, which is against the law.
The duo were charged that on November 11, 2023, in the Imara Daima area within Nairobi county, they jointly stole one Nokia phone valued at KSH 8500, the property of Ephantus Ngari Nyaga.
They appeared before the Milimani senior principal magistrate Gilbert Shikwe and denied the charges against them.
On January 5, 2024, five other suspects linked with the disappearance of the said person were arrested and brought before the court in a miscellaneous application, whereby they were later released on January 16, 2024, after seven days in custody.
Fredrick Ireri Runji, Anna Njoki Kithu, William Waka, Salim Nderi and Alice Wanjiru Githinji appeared before Milimani senior principal magistrate Gilbert Shikwe in a miscellaneous application where they were linked with the disappearance of Ephantus Ngari Nyaga.
They were released after one week without any charge after the investigative officer lacked evidence to charge them in court.
The prosecution requested the court to close the miscellaneous application file since the Investigation did not have evidence to charge them.
“Your honour, I request this court to close the miscellaneous application file and release the suspects without charges since the Investigation is still ongoing,” prayed the prosecution led by Judy Koech.
Mrs Koech further told the court to release the suspects on condition that they would appear before the DCI when needed to help with the Investigation, which was still ongoing.
The officer who had been investigating the matter, Corporal James Nzioka, who is attached to the DCI Nairobi area, told the court earlier that on the fateful day when Ngari went missing, Fredrick Ireri and Anna Njoki were seen last with him.
He told the court that there was a circumcision ceremony in the house of Charles Ireri Kageta, within the Imara Daima area, where Ngari was in attendance.
The ceremony party ended at 11:00 PM when Ngari left the house as other family members were leaving, and shortly, his phone went off, and he went missing.
They denied the two charges and were released on a bond of Ksh 100,000 with a surety of the same amount or alternative cash bail of KSH 40,000 with one contact person.
The matter will be mentioned on February 12 this year for pre-trial.Duo