Police in Thika East Sub County is investigating an alleged kidnapping incident of four children in the Gatuanyagathe area, Kiambu County on Sunday evening.

The children aged between seven and 11 years who later managed to escape on Monday morning were allegedly abducted while playing outside their residence at around 2 pm before they were sprayed with a sleeping dose and bundled into a car.

The two boys and two girls detailed how they were blindfolded and their mouths, hands, and legs tied up, put into a car, and driven for about four kilometers before they were bundled into an abandoned small room near Makongeni estate where they found three other children.

According to one of the children, she woke up hours later and saw the room with two windows, one of which had been covered with a piece of iron sheet nailed to it.

“I managed to kick it off, woke the other children and we ran away. It was a terrifying 16-hour experience,” she told the press yesterday.

According to a guardian of two of the children Catherine Karongo, the children went missing from 2 pm on Sunday and came home at 9 am yesterday.

She said they reported the matter to the police on Sunday evening and together with residents, began a manhunt for the four, but did not succeed.

“It was on Monday when while on our manhunt, we received a call that the children had returned home. We felt relieved after a long and difficult experience. They came back terrified and traumatized,” said Karongo.

Area Deputy Sub-county police commander Muthee Nyaga confirmed the incident saying investigations are underway. He cautioned parents to be vigilant about their children’s safety.

“Investigations are underway and everyone responsible will be put to justice.  We condemn the incident and call on parents to be responsible for their children’s safety while at home,” he said.

Residents led by Cecilia Wamaitha, a local leader raised concern over the increased insecurity cases in the area with several kidnapping and gruesome murders being reported in the area over the past year.

In April, a boy was murdered and his badly mutilated body dumped in a thicket as he took his father’s phone for battery charging in a nearby shop.

In August, a man was murdered and his body skinned and in September, a man from Ngong’ was murdered by residents after he slaughtered his wife in a car in the same Gatuanyaga area.

“This has turned into a death zone. We appeal to the police to heighten security because we live in fear,” said Wamaitha.