Missing Mombasa-based taxi driver Victoria Mumbua Muloki.
On Friday, September 25, Ms Victoria Mumbua Muloki, a taxi driver, received a request for a ride from a client through a taxi-hailing app in Mombasa.
As it had been her usual routine for the last four years that she has worked as a taxi driver, Ms Muloki, a mother of three, did not hesitate to take up the trip.
Details obtained by the family and security officers from the app show that the client wanted to be taken from Nkrumah Road to Joe Kadenge Road within the Mombasa Central Business District.
It is suspected that he later requested Ms Muloki to drop her to Samburu, Kwale County, nearly 66 kilometres from Mombasa.
Ms Muloki made her last call notifying one of her colleagues that she had dropped a client at Samburu.
According to her mother, Ms Anne Kanini, her daughter's phone had already been switched off by around 3pm on the same day.
“The following morning after she went missing, I received a call from the taxi drivers who notified me that she was unavailable on the phone and would not return calls or messages. They then decided to go to her house in the Makupa area, but were also informed that she had not returned home,” said Ms Kanini.
They filed the missing-person report on Saturday at Makupa Police Station.
Ms Muloki started the taxi business after she quit her previous job as a sales representative at a company selling household goods.
She has been residing in Makupa with her three children after separating from her husband, whom her mother says has not been in communication with the family.
“We have really suffered as a family. It has been four days since my daughter went missing and it is painful. Whoever is holding my daughter please release her. We are also asking the police to help us because we cannot do much by ourselves, we need help,” said the distraught mother.
First arrest made
A man suspected to be behind the disappearance of the taxi driver was arrested on Sunday in Nakuru County.
The suspect, Edwin Ngetich Kipkemoi, was at the time of his arrest found driving the vehicle with registration number KDQ 182F, belonging to the missing woman.
Confirming the arrest, National Police Service spokesperson, Dr Resila Onyango, said the suspect is currently being held at Mwariki Police Station in Nakuru.
Nakuru County Police Commander, Samuel Ndanyi, confirmed that Mr Kipkemoi was intercepted on Sunday at the Pipeline Junction along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway while driving a white Nissan Serena, registration number KDQ 182F.
According to police reports, Mr Kipkemoi was heading towards Western Kenya when he was apprehended by detectives following an online alert about the stolen vehicle.
Mr Kipkemoi, who was alone at the time of arrest, has not revealed the whereabouts of the missing taxi driver.
"The suspect is currently in custody at Mwariki Police Station. We have notified our counterparts in Mombasa that we have apprehended the suspect. The case was initially reported at Makupa Police Station in Mombasa and we are awaiting their arrival to take over the investigation," Mr Ndanyi told Nation.Africa.
Nakuru East Sub-County Criminal Investigation Officer Samuel Ngeiywo said that despite interrogation Ngetich has not disclosed any information regarding Ms Muloki's location.
Authorities are yet to establish whether Mr Kipkemoi was planning to flee across the border or disassemble the vehicle for parts.
"We have tried questioning him but he remains silent. Our colleagues from Mombasa will handle the detailed investigation since the case was reported there. We don't want to interfere and risk compromising the investigation," Mr Ngeiywo added.
Sources within the police circles revealed that the vehicle was spotted along Gumbi Road near Milimani market in Kisumu, with the tracking system also revealing another location in Malanga along Kisumu-Busia Road in Siaya County.
But the car was later spotted by another taxi driver in Nakuru, leading to the arrest of the suspect.
Police believe that the man in custody is the same one, who had requested the taxi services on September 25, although he is still under interrogation.
A team of detectives from the regional police headquarters in Mombasa has been dispatched to Nakuru to collect the recovered motor vehicle and escort the suspect to Mombasa to assist with the ongoing investigations.
A family friend of the missing woman, Mr George Isuza, said Ms Muloki had left home at around 5:30am on the fateful day.
Taxi drivers in Mombasa have appealed to the police officers to intensify the search operation, citing increasing cases of abductions and harassment of their counterparts.
“We don’t feel that our security is guaranteed and therefore our appeal also goes to the online taxi-hailing companies to ensure they have all the information regarding the customers we ferry. We are also demanding from the police that we want Ms Victoria found and reunited with her family,” said Mr Joe Kairo, a taxi driver in Mombasa.
A police signal has since been sent to all stations across the country, as the authorities call on anyone with information about the missing taxi to volunteer the details to the nearest police station for action.
