When Gatuto Primary School headteacher Joshua Kerai was bundled into a car by three strangers last Tuesday, he feared the worst. The men drove him around aimlessly for hours through the dusty roads of Kagumo, leaving him terrified and confused.
“It felt like a nightmare that wouldn’t end,” a close colleague said, recalling how shaken Kerai was when he was finally found.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), detectives have now arrested one of the key suspects behind the chilling abduction, which took place on November 4, 2025, in Kagumo, Kirinyaga County.
In a statement released on Sunday, the DCI said officers from Kirinyaga East Sub-County tracked down the suspect after days of painstaking investigation following digital trails, witness tips, and forensic evidence that eventually led them to his hideout in Kutus Town.
The suspect is believed to have been part of a three-man gang that ambushed the headteacher, forcing him into a Toyota Ractis. After hours of fear and confusion, the gang eventually abandoned Kerai in the same vehicle at a petrol station in Kutus, leaving him dazed and disoriented.
It was a Good Samaritan who found him and rushed him to Kerugoya Hospital, where he was treated for shock and minor injuries.
Investigators now believe the arrested man is a repeat offender, linked to a string of crimes from motor vehicle theft and stock theft to violent robberies and shop break-ins across Kirinyaga and neighboring counties.
As the suspect awaits arraignment, detectives are still hunting for his two accomplices.
The incident has sent shockwaves through the education community, coming just a day after another grim discovery the body of the Munyuki Secondary School Principal was found dumped in the Kipkaren River on Saturday, November 8.
Initial reports suggested an accident, but investigators now suspect the principal was tortured and killed before being disposed of in the river.
For many teachers in the region, the back-to-back tragedies have stirred deep fear and frustration. “We dedicate our lives to shaping young minds, but lately, it feels like we’re being hunted,” said one headteacher who asked not to be named for security reasons.
As police intensify the manhunt for the remaining suspects, residents of Kirinyaga are calling for stronger security measures not just for educators, but for everyone who calls the quiet, hardworking county home.
