A University Student and His Friend, Arrested For Kidnapping 12 year Old Relative, Demanded Half a Million as ransom..(Read Full Gist)

Two university students were Saturday arrested and a 12-year-old kidnapped boy rescued from a hostel in Juja Town.

Police say the kidnappers are relatives of the boy and had picked him from Nairobi West and demanded Sh500,000 ransom before releasing him. The kidnappers then started to make calls from a hideout in Kawangware, Nairobi whereas they had hid the boy in Juja. Nairobi DCI Nicholas Kamwende said they would bring the boy to Kawangware and later take him back to their hostel to confuse investigations. "Unfortunately the boy knew the kidnappers and wondered why they were beating him while giving him a phone to communicate with the parents," said Kamwende. Police say the boy was picked up from Funguo estate in Nairobi west on December 4th by the gang and taken to Joyland Mark hostels where he was later rescued. He had injuries on the back and stomach an indication he was being tortured while in the hands of the two relatives who are also students.
When police approached the hostel where the boy was being hidden, one of the kidnappers allegedly tried to push him into a water tank to drown. A witness told police a caretaker at the hostels who saved the situation stopping the tragedy. The students were identified as Levis Oduor, aged 21 years, who is a cousin to the child and Edwin Otieno Ogolla aged 22-years, both are students at JKUAT. The rescued child was rushed to Nairobi West Hospital where he admitted. Cases of kidnapping have been fluctuating with police making efforts to contain them. Last week, three men were arrested in Githurai after kidnapping a university student and demanded a Sh1 million ransom. They had lured the female student through Facebook before they sent her a taxi to pick her and later took her hostage.