Mother seeks help to trace daughter after giving her away to strangers in desperation

A 24-year-old woman is appealing to the National Police Service (NPS) and the general public to help her trace her six-week-old baby, whom she alleges was stolen by a suspected human trafficking syndicate in Nairobi.

Everlyne Wangui claims that the individuals who kidnapped her child lied, saying they would help take care of her baby until she found a job and got back on her feet financially.

The depressed young mother has had sleepless nights for the past three months, with the events of October 5, 2024, when she willingly handed over her child to her alleged kidnappers, firmly ingrained in her mind.

Wangui got pregnant towards the end of 2023 and later traveled to Dubai in search of greener pastures, eventually landing a job there.

When she was eight months pregnant, she returned to Kenya to deliver her baby, but the news was not well received by her parents when they realized she was expectant and had left her job.

Not only were her parents upset, but to add insult to injury, the man responsible for the pregnancy disappeared from the picture.

With no support and slowly falling into depression, Wangui thought of a quick way out. Her first attempt was on Facebook, where she sought help on what she could do with her baby.

“I was depressed when I came back. I later met a woman on Facebook who was looking for a child. She told me that she would come pick up the child after I delivered her,” Wangui told Citizen TV.

After delivering a beautiful baby girl at Njiru Hospital in Nairobi in August 2024, Wangui reached out to the woman she had connected with on Facebook, revisiting their conversation about giving her the infant.

Unfortunately for Wangui, the Facebook stranger, a woman she could only identify as Sharon, told her she was looking for a baby boy, not a baby girl. Sharon then introduced Wangui to another group of people who were willing to take her female child.

“She called me and told me there was a couple willing to take my child since they couldn’t have children of their own. I started communicating with the couple, Grace and Shadrack. Grace would come pick up my daughter,” said Wangui.

With an agreement having been reached, Wangui gave her six-week-old baby to the strangers in Nairobi’s Central Business District on October 5, 2024.

“Grace came from Kisii. We met in town around National Archives and I gave her my daughter’s documents including her birth certificate,” Wangui said.

When Wangui got back home that evening, it dawned on her that she had greatly erred by giving her daughter to complete strangers.

“I called them asking for my daughter back. They texted back saying that my child had left the country for Australia. They gave me Ksh.2,000 and told me to use it to pay my rent since I was struggling at the time,” said Wangui.

She subsequently reported the matter to the police, but the investigations have not been fruitful. Police at the Central Police Station in Nairobi and the Child Protection Unit of the DCI are still pursuing the case.

“I was going through a lot; I couldn’t feed her or buy clothes for her. I only realized later that I could not live without that child,” Wangui said.