Abductions: Missing Kenyans found far from home as courts press police

Nairobi lawyer Abshir Abdi before Milimani High Court Judge Alexander Muteti after his abduction ordeal. [David Gichuru, Standard]

Several missing and abducted Kenyans have been found abandoned miles from home just as courts turn up the pressure on security chiefs to explain their disappearance, raising troubling questions about the timing.

For 11 days, the family of Nairobi lawyer Abshir Ahmedsadak Abdi endured anguish, searching for answers after four armed men, believed to be police officers, allegedly abducted him in the early hours of November 1 as he left a city hotel along Muchai Road, off Ngong Road.

His white Toyota Premio was reportedly pursued by armed men before he was bundled into another vehicle and disappeared.

His family searched police stations and other possible locations without success, while the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) moved to court, seeking orders compelling security agencies to disclose his whereabouts.

Then came a dramatic development. Abshir was found alive in Sololo, Marsabit County, after allegedly being abandoned by his captors in the early hours of November 12, thousands of kilometres from Nairobi.

The discovery came amid mounting pressure on the security establishment, with LSK President Charles Kanjama telling the High Court that the society intended to seek summons against senior security officials to explain the growing number of alleged abductions.

The officials identified included Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, DCI Director Mohamed Amin, National Intelligence Service Director-General Noordin Haji, the Deputy Inspector General, the head of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau and other security officers.

Kanjama told Justice Alexander Muteti that the officials possessed information that could help establish what happened to the missing lawyer.

"We intend to request for the summoning of the senior officers in the state security establishment, starting with the CS, PS, IG, DCI boss, DIG, NIS," Kanjama told the court.

The LSK president also said the society had consulted other civil society organisations and made efforts to reach the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) as pressure mounted over the disappearance.

The court proceedings had taken a significant turn after Abshir's brother presented video footage showing armed men allegedly pursuing and overpowering the lawyer.

The family believes some of the armed men were attached to security agencies.

But while the legal fraternity was demanding answers in Nairobi, herders in the remote Uran area of Sololo reportedly encountered Abshir at around 5am.

Locals initially mistook him for a refugee fleeing violence in neighbouring Ethiopia before establishing his identity after he provided a family member's telephone number.

His brother, Zachariah Abshir, subsequently confirmed that he had received a call from an unfamiliar number and recognised the voice as that of his missing sibling.

The lawyer was advised to report to the nearest police station as his family prepared to travel to Marsabit.

Abducted lawyer Abshir Abdi interacts with lawyers at the Milimani Law Courts after the hearing proceedings following his abduction ordeal. [David Gichuru, Standard]

The National Police Service later confirmed that Abshir and his colleague, Ayub Mohamud Maalim, had been found in Marsabit County, after members of the public reported their discovery at Rawana and Uran shopping centres.

"Upon receipt of this information, officers from Sololo Police Station responded and escorted the two men to the station, where their statements were duly recorded," the police said.

The service added that investigations would continue to establish the circumstances surrounding their disappearance.

"The NPS is committed to conducting a thorough, impartial and expeditious evidence-led investigation to establish the full circumstances of this matter and to ensure that justice is served in accordance with the law," the statement read.

For Kanjama, finding the two men was not enough.

He further demanded that accountability extend beyond the people who allegedly carried out the abductions.

The LSK president also raised concern over references to alleged security units, including the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Operations Support Unit (OSU) under the DCI.

"We are deeply troubled. We have heard about the Special Operations Group and the Operation Support Unit under the DCI. We are hearing terms that are contrary to constitutional design," he said.

The developments have renewed questions about a troubling feature of several disappearance cases: victims resurfacing in distant locations after their families have gone to court and demanded answers from security agencies.

Abshir's case is not isolated. The mystery of Kenyans resurfacing miles from where they disappeared has also played out within the media fraternity, following the September 2026 abduction of Standard Group Associate Editor Alex Kiprotich.

Kiprotich was seized by four masked, armed men along the Gilgil-Nakuru highway shortly before 9.20pm on September 1, as he travelled towards Nakuru. He was found abandoned near Masinga Dam in Machakos County at around 2am the following day, more than 200 kilometres away, after spending nine hours in captivity.

The incident came barely two months after another attempted abduction on June 27, when armed men travelling in a Toyota Probox allegedly tried to seize him as he drove to work in Nakuru. He escaped, but no arrests had been announced over that incident by the time of the September abduction.

The National Police Service denied involvement and announced investigations, while the Media Council of Kenya demanded an immediate and transparent probe.

Kiprotich's ordeal added another troubling dimension to questions about armed men seizing individuals and abandoning them in distant locations, leaving families demanding answers about who was responsible and what happened during their captivity.

In January 2025, five young Kenyans who had been reported missing in separate incidents resurfaced within hours of one another, sparking questions about the circumstances of their disappearance and release.

They included Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Bernard Kavuli Musyimi, Ronny Kiplangat and cartoonist Gideon Kibet, popularly known as Kibet Bull.

Mwangi, who had disappeared from a barbershop in Embu in December 2024, was reportedly abandoned in Nyeri after 15 days.

Muteti, who went missing in Nairobi, was found in the city, while Kavuli resurfaced in Kitale.

Kiplangat was found in Machakos, while Kibet Bull announced that he had been abandoned in Luanda, Vihiga County, in the early hours of January 6.

In a social media post following his release, Kibet Bull narrated his experience, saying:

"They dropped me in Luanda Vihiga at 3-4 a.m. Leo. Sikuwa najua where to enter or book a room. Kidogo form ya Disco Matanga came in, danced mpaka 6 a.m. when I went to book a ticket."

Their disappearance had attracted public attention and pressure on security agencies to account for their whereabouts.

Missing Nairobi lawyer Abshir Abdi appeared before Milimani High Court Judge Alexander Muteti after his abduction ordeal. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

The High Court also intervened in separate habeas corpus proceedings involving people reported missing. Lawyers sought to compel senior security officials to explain what had happened, but some of those reported missing were released before the summoned police chiefs appeared in court.

In another case, Justice Alexander Muteti ordered the Inspector General of Police and DCI Director to personally account for three men — Macmillan Kiarie Mugo, Michael Oloo Osoro and Evans Otieno Omondi — who disappeared in separate incidents in June 2026 ahead of planned Gen Z anniversary protests.

Families told the court that the men had been picked up by armed individuals travelling in unmarked vehicles.

Oloo's wife testified that her husband was seized from a barbershop in Umoja by three men who identified themselves as police officers, handcuffed him and forced him into a waiting vehicle.

Omondi was allegedly picked up from a shop in Ruai, while Mugo reportedly disappeared after leaving his home in Githurai.

Six other activists — Boniface Mulinge Muteti, Elisha Ochieng Alam, Collins Otieno, Fredrick Odhiambo Ojiro, Christine Alubengo and Michael Ngige — were also reported missing after allegedly being arrested outside Parliament during the June 25, 2026 protests.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said the six had been bundled into a police truck and driven away without being booked at a police station.

They were subsequently found at different locations, with some reportedly injured and alleging torture.

As Abshir and Ayub's case proceeds, the challenge facing investigators is no longer simply establishing whether the two men were found.

It is identifying who allegedly took them, who held them and whether anyone within the security establishment had knowledge of their disappearance.

The recovery of missing Kenyans may end the immediate search, but it cannot substitute for accountability.