A man and his girlfriend were yesterday morning arrested in connection with the June 15 kidnapping of businesswoman Hafsa Mohamed Lukman, who was later rescued in Kayole where she was forced to fit inside a 200-litre water tank.

Jackson Njogu and Hafusa Ahmed were arrested at a lodging in Kinangop, Nyandarua County, by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

At 4am, Njogu and her girlfriend – a close friend to Lukman – were booked in custody at the Buru Buru Police Station where Njogu’s uncle, Silas Ndung’u had been detained for almost a week, in connection to the same kidnapping.

In the cell, Njogu came face-to-face with his uncle Ndung’u, after almost two weeks.

An emotional Ndung’u, who since his arrest has maintained he is innocent, got furious and demanded to know from his nephew why he did not tell him that they had been implicated in the kidnapping.  

“You mean you were involved in such a crime and you didn’t tell me,” he asked before he covered his head with his jacket, broke down and sobbed.

A People Daily reporter who was at the station established that Njogu had been cohabiting with Hafusa Ahmed whom he introduced as the kidnap victim’s close friend.

According to Ndung’u, the two used to frequent Ndung’u’ s house in Soweto, Kayole where he (Ndung’u) was arrested over two weeks ago. 

“They used to come to my house and I could excuse myself and leave them to have their time in my house,” he narrated.

Ndung’u said he had earlier met the victim saying at some point, Njogu, his girlfriend and the kidnap victim came to his house together before the incident.

He further revealed that he used to work for the girl – who is recuperating from the kidnap ordeal – some two years ago, before he quit to look for greener pastures in Mombasa.

“I returned to Nairobi only three months ago, and found out that they have employed other people and started my own business,” he said.

Bar business

At Buru Buru, Njogu said he received Sh200,000 from his girlfriend before he fled Nairobi allegedly to start a bar business in Kinangop.

He claimed that a few days later, his girlfriend followed him to Kinangop where she sought his help for refuge, revealing to him that she was in trouble and needed to hide. He insinuated that the girlfriend was hiding from the police.

A bitter Ndung’u exposed wounds and swelling on his body claiming that he had been tortured by detectives to get information from him regarding the kidnap. He also said he had worked for Hafsa Lukman at her watermelon farm in Bura, Garissa for about two years.

The Kamukinji-based businesswoman was kidnapped by the gang that demanded a ransom of Sh5 million from the family members, in exchange for her freedom. 

On July 16, for example, the abductors texted the family at around 11.30pm, demanding a ransom.

The gang would later release a heart-rending video showing the badly tortured woman pleading with her family to meet the demands of the kidnappers for her life to be spared.

“The kidnappers constantly kept sending videos and images of Hafsa to her family threatening to end her life if the ransom was not sent,” police said.

DCI said the two had also siphoned a total of Sh650,000 from Hafsa’s account while she was in captivity before escaping to Kinangop.

In one of the images and videos believed to be of Hafsa, the gang tied her up and had apparently beaten her up.

The victim was rescued from a vacant two-roomed house in Matopeni after children who were playing around the house heard her screams.

The children checked and saw a note with a mobile phone contact and a message. They then alerted their parents who in turn alerted the detectives who had been camping in the area.