In light of investigations into the killings of those who were abandoned in the region, a fifth body was found yesterday in Lari’s Ngubi Forest.
Joseph Njau Ng’endo, who was contesting for the Njiru MCA seat in Kasarani, Nairobi, was recognized by the police and his family as the body.
Fred Obare, Frank Obegi, Moses Nyachae, and Elijah Omeka were among the other people whose bodies had previously been found.
They are thought to have vanished after robbing their most recent victim of Sh1 million in bitcoin. Tech-savvy thieves have used bitcoin, a digital currency that works without any central monitoring or regulation from banks, to hack into people’s bank accounts, purchase bitcoins, and leave little to no trace.
He was reportedly on the police’s watch list due to allegations of narcotics trafficking. Ironically, he was well recognized for being an anti-drug activist. He was taken into custody in 2019 with five kilos of heroin.
Njau was detained in Westlands, Nairobi, shortly after arriving from a trip to Kampala, Uganda, after getting caught up in a police dragnet. He is believed to have traveled to Kampala to buy the drugs he had hidden inside.
Polie, who say Njau is part of a larger heroin distribution network in Nairobi, believe he procured the narcotics from a Nigerian based in Kampala.
“Police records indicate that Njau is a frequent traveller to Uganda. He has a pattern of leaving Kenya through the Busia border and coming back to Kenya through the Malaba border. He does this to evade detection,” a police report said then.
“In early February 2019, Njau made two trips to Uganda where he is suspected to have hammered a deal with his Nigerian drug associates.” Njau, the authorities say, masks his drug dealing activities in legitimate business and charity work.
“When not dealing drugs, Njau works part-time as an anti-drug abuse campaigner. He regularly visits schools and social gatherings to give talks against drug abuse.”
The suspect was arraigned in the JKIA law courts with possession and trafficking of narcotic drugs. The case is pending in court.
In Kasarani, the Star found Fred Obare’s friend, who described him as a man wanting to be rich while young by indiscriminately scamming friends and strangers alike.
Some of his estranged friends and acquaintances claim he scammed them hundreds of thousands of shillings in the name of selling them accounts for academic writing.
Online academic writing is a popular industry for jobless graduates who help students abroad in completing class assignments at a fee.
Besides doing the writing himself, Obare was also a dealer in the accounts, selling them to graduates who resorted to online writing
Zachary Bosire, not his real name, said he was Obare’s friend of five years.
Obare had taught him how to manoeuvre his ways in the online writing field and when he was able to stand on his own feet, he sought to buy an account for himself.
They both lived in Sunton area, Kasarani. Obare sold him one account worth Sh200,000 and two months after using it, it got hacked and credentials changed.
After months of investigations, he found out that Obare was the one who pulled the trick on him. It soured their relationship.
Obare’s body was among those found dumped in a thicket in Kajabe, Lari, in Kiambu county.
Their bodies were mutilated and bore stab wounds with signs of strangulation. Their private parts were mutilated.
The bodies were taken to City Mortuary in Nairobi where postmortem was conducted before they were transferred to other morgues.
City Mortuary deputy superintendent Patrick Kibuga told the Star on Wednesday that the only body remaining at the facility was that of another man who was yet to be identified.
His body was also found in the same area of Kijabe.
On Tuesday, Lari police boss Adamson Furaha told reporters that one of the bodies had been partially eaten by wild animals.
While much remains unknown about the slain friends, a resident of Kasarani told the Star Obare was known in his Sunton neighbourhood as an online academic writer who also traded in cryptocurrencies.
Though he always stayed indoors, his friends and people who knew him said he loved bragging and kept a polished image with high-end cars.
Bosire, who still does online writing, said Obare “stepped on many toes in this industry because he loved good money and conned people indiscriminately, including his most trusted friends.”
“When he conned me in 2020, I just felt it would not take long before he is somehow stopped. I had sold land back home to buy that account as a way of business,” he told the Star.
Bosire referred the Star to another mutual former friend, Jeff Otieno, who said he lost Sh150,000 to Obare in another botched online account deal.
“He had sold me this account for which he wanted Sh200,000 but we settled on Sh150,000. But as he sold me the account, he also took money from other people in the name of selling it,” Otieno said.
He reported the matter to the police and at Obare’s persuasion, he agreed to have the matter settled out of court.
Obare’s was also known by the boda boda riders who sometimes did errands for him.
Ongeri Mokaya told the Star Obare would send him to errands in the market and areas along Thika Road, adding that he “paid well”.
But Obare had a big trouble telling the truth, Mokaya said.
“The man would not tell the truth. That is what often made us disagree. Let me not say much now that he is no more. He kept his distance but lived a lavish life,” the rider said.
