Businessman kidnapped in broad daylight still missing four months later

Four months on from the abduction in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, of wealthy businessman Samson Teklemichael his family are still waiting for answers about what happened to him.

Last November, videos shared widely on social media, appeared to show the Ethiopian national being kidnapped in broad daylight.

In the middle of a road, just outside Nairobi’s central business district, he is seen being pulled out of his car and bundled into another vehicle which speeds off.

Still no-one knows where Mr Samson is.

His wife, Milen Mezgebo, is distraught. She says the incident shocked the family and her children keep asking questions that she cannot answer.

“My kids are tortured every day… they have seen the video,” she tells the BBC.

She says that the only time she has talked to the police was when she went to give a statement about her husband’s disappearance. Since then she has heard nothing from the authorities.

Mr Samson, originally from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, earned his money running a liquefied petroleum business. He has lived in Kenya with his family for the last 17 years.

The Ethiopian government has appealed to Kenya to speed up investigations into his whereabouts. Its ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, says the Kenyan government has told them the police are carrying out an investigation but it did not divulge any details.

The Kenyan government has not responded to the BBC’s request for comment.

The motive for the abduction remains a mystery.

Given that Mr Samson is from Tigray, some thought it could have been wrapped up in the country’s civil war.

Others have pointed to Kenya’s police, which has been blamed for dozens of disappearances in recent years.

But police spokesperson Bruno Shioso dismisses this speculation.

“We are there to protect the lives of people, of citizens, and any other persons who may be within our territory,” he tells the BBC.

“We have criminals who are very active, they have the tactics, so it is not the police, and it shouldn’t be the police.”

A traffic police officer can be seen in the video of Mr Samson being taken away.

Mr Shioso acknowledges that it was a policeman but says he was out on official duty and only stopped “to inquire what the commotion was about”. He says the police officer “was not at the scene to assist or arrest”.

Source: BBC