Police in Eldoret have arrested a middle-aged man over alleged involvement in a child trafficking syndicate in Uasin Gishu County.

According to police investigations, the mastermind of the alleged syndicate is said to be working in cahoots with a secondary school dropout.

Turbo Sub-county Police Commander Patrick Wekesa confirmed the arrest of the suspect, saying that he was helping them with investigations.

The man is said to use his victims, once they have been smuggled out of the country, to extort money running into millions of shillings from their parents in exchange for their freedom.

“While in their captivity, the girls are told to call their parents to send between Sh1 million and Sh3 million to secure their release lest their abductors kill them,” said Wekesa.

Wekesa said police officers also managed to rescue two minors aged 14 and 15 years who were about to be smuggled out of the country by the suspect via panya route along the Kenya-Uganda border.

Speaking to the media in Eldoret, Wekesa said the suspect arrived at Road block estate in a taxi from Busia town to pick the minors whom he secured through his contact in the area.

The minors who were learning in a public secondary school in Turbo Sub County terminated their studies two weeks ago after being promised lucrative opportunities in a foreign country.

“We lured the suspect using his contact person to call him to come and pick the two minors at the agreed meeting point, which was Roadblock Estate,” said Wekesa.

A team of armed detectives took cover in a vehicle as  the  was being driven from Busia town to the said estate in the outskirts of Eldoret City.

As soon as he disembarked from the taxi, the officers pounced on him as he was preparing to receive the minors from his conductor in one of the rental houses in the estate.

Whisked away

He was then whisked away to the central police station under tight security, locked in the cells pending the outcome of investigations before he is arraigned in court.

Meanwhile, police in Gatanga, Murang’a County, have recovered body parts of an unidentified male person days after a skull was found in Kigio village.

The skull was allegedly dragged into the homestead of one of the residents on Thursday, and he alerted the authorities.

Peter Mwaura said at first he thought it was a ball, but taking a closer look, he saw it was a skull.

“I believe the skull was brought by the dogs, probably as they were trying to hide it so that they could feast on it later,” he said.

The police mounted a search for the other body parts, and after hours of combing the bushes, they found a decomposing body on the banks of the River Chania.

Some clothes were found near the body, but there were no documents that could help identify the victim.

Area chief Raphael Kamau said the body could have stayed there for some time, given that it was decomposing.

Kamau said some people could have spotted the body but feared reporting to the police

“The police will help unravel the circumstances leading to the death of the victim,” said Kamau.

“DNA test will also help to establish if the skull found a day before matches the other body parts that have been recovered from the river banks,” he added.

The incident has sparked a wave of fear among the residents, who have urged the police to beef up security.

The skull and other body parts were taken to Gen Kago mortuary in  Thika.