It was on Friday morning and we were all at home as schools had closed due to Covid-19. My friends Geoffrey, Kimeu and I took a break from our studies.

We walked on the narrow crowded streets of Kibera heading towards a nearby stadium.

We hoped to watch football played by talented teenagers from our neighbourhood.

The stadium was faraway so we took a shortcut through part of the Ngong Forest.

We only heard the birds and a gentle wind blowing through the trees.

Although it was scary, we were so eager to watch the match that we forgot that there could be danger.
Soon, we noticed traces of blood on a side path.

Out of curiosity, we followed the path and found ourselves outside a grass thatched shelter.

As fear took over we made a U-turn to run away. Just then, two tall muscular men appeared and stood in our path.

The man who had a club, asked, "Where do you think you are going?"

None of us dared to answer.

They looked at each other and smiled. It occurred to us that those men could kidnap us.

I whispered to Geoffrey and Kimeu to run while I tried to play tricks on the men.

Geoffrey and Kimeu escaped. I also tried to run but one of the men grabbed me by my shirt and slapped me hard on my face.

They lifted me up and tied me up against a giant tree.

Geoffrey and Kimeu alerted my parents who called the police. As I stood strapped to a tree, I heard police sirens coming closer.

The men tried to escape but the police warned them that the area was surrounded.

The men begged the police, "We lost our jobs and we have to find food. We only ask for a little ransom from the families of the people we kidnap."

The police did not listen to anything they said. They were bundled in a police vehicle.