Police should act to end abduction

The mainstream and social media have lately been awash with reports and photos of kidnapped and missing persons. Most of the victims have been children, with some of them murdered.

The Police Service – tasked with protection of life and property and prevention and detection of crime – appears to have perfected the art of reactive policing, mainly responding after crimes have been committed.

Proactive policing entails strategies that seek to prevent or reduce crime, and not focusing on investigations once criminals have accomplished their mission.

According to the National Crime and Research Centre, Kenya is among the top 20 countries in the world in which child kidnappings are rampant.

A businesswoman who was abducted on June 15 was finally rescued last Sunday from a dingy room in Kayole where she was forced to fit inside a 200-litre water tank.

Though the victim was held hostage less than 200 metres from where she was kidnapped, the woman was only rescued after children who were playing around the house heard her screams.

Following the manner in which she was rescued, concerns have been raised on detectives’ ability to handle such sensitive cases.

It behooves the agencies to be extra vigilant, reconsider policing strategies and nip the vice in the bud.

Police are yet to unravel a number of mysterious kidnappings. One such case is the April 19 abduction of four men in Kitengela, in broad daylight.

No suspect has been arrested in connection with the crime two months on.

Detectives are also yet to trace the whereabouts of former military officer Mwenda Mbijiwe who went missing on June 12. 

The most brazen act was a motorist who was shot ten times in Nairobi while driving home yesterday.

One of the most brutal and daring kidnappings was that of Mohamud Bashir Mohammed, the Somali-American contractor who went missing in Nairobi on May 13, and whose body was later found in a mortuary.

It was apparent that it was a classic case of murder most foul but no one has been arrested. 

All reported and detected cases should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to book to ensure justice for affected families.

The general feeling is that police have been reluctant to investigate some of the cases, a clear abdication of duty. 

The only case that stands out is the abduction and subsequent killing of eight-year-old Shantel Nzembi in Kitengela, where police arrested the main suspects and presented them in court.

That is how it should be if we’re keen to uphold the rule of law and respect for the sanctity of life.