A manhunt has been launched in Garissa County after two primary school pupils went missing in a case police suspect could be linked to attempted recruitment into the Al-Shabaab militant group.
The two boys, aged 13 and 15, who attend Mzuri Primary School, disappeared after they were reportedly picked up from school by a man claiming to be their uncle.
The disappearance has caused panic among the pupils’ family and school community, with fears that the children may have been taken across the Kenya-Somalia border.
The incident began on July 5 when the man arrived at the school and requested permission to take the two boys away briefly. He reportedly told the head teacher that he wanted to buy them learning materials, and permission was granted after his explanation appeared genuine.
That was the last time the pupils were seen at the school. Their absence did not immediately raise suspicion until relatives discovered that they had also failed to return to the home where they lived with their grandmother.
After efforts to locate the children and the man who had taken them failed, a family member reported the matter at Garissa Police Station on July 8.
Detectives launched investigations and uncovered details suggesting that the disappearance may have been planned.
Investigators established that the alleged uncle had travelled from Mombasa to Garissa three days before the incident and had stayed at a relative’s home before collecting the boys.
Phone tracking reportedly later placed him in Dhobley, a town in southern Somalia, raising concerns that the children may have been moved across the border.
Security agencies have identified the boys’ father, whom they suspect to be an Al-Shabaab operative who fled to Somalia in 2018, as a possible mastermind behind the disappearance.
According to investigators, the father is believed to have instructed his brother to collect the children from Garissa and transport them into Somalia.
The uncle has also been named as a person of interest in the January 26 attack in Hulugho, Garissa County, where Boma Location Chief Abdufatah Mohamud and primary school teacher Stephen Musili were killed.
Authorities fear the two pupils could be exposed to extremist indoctrination or militant training if they are not found and rescued quickly.
Security agencies have intensified efforts to trace the missing children and establish their whereabouts as investigations into the suspected recruitment attempt continue.