Businesswoman Anne Njeri Njoroge has relived the mystery of her disappearance, days after she was declared missing after recording a statement with the DCI in Nairobi.
Speaking at the high court in Mombasa, Njeri said her woes began when she went to the DCI offices on Thursday to record a statement on the advice of Energy CS Davis Chirchir.
The businesswoman said she went to see the CS after a dispute emerged over the ownership of the Sh17 billion oil which has been held at the Port of Mombasa since October 11.
“I was waiting for my import permit and went to see CS Chirchir who told me the fuel was not mine but belonged to a firm called Galana. I told him I had not signed any deal with Galana, so the cargo was mine. He advised me to go to DCI to record a statement,” she said.
Two importers are tussling over the ownership of the consignment, which Njeri says is hers. The dispute that has blocked a ship from offloading
Marketing companies Galana Energies Limited and Aramco are reportedly each claiming to own 100,000 metric tons of the said oil.
When Njeri went missing, her lawyer Cliff Ombeta claimed that two individuals took advantage of her lack of an oil importing licence to lay claim to ownership of the oil.
At the DCI, Njeri said she recorded a statement after which some alleged officers asked her to accompany them to another office.
“I then realised that it was not an office. The officers then asked me whether I was on medication. I told them I was but I did not have the medicine with me,” she said.
The businesswoman added that the officers asked for her phone and password and then took her to a waiting vehicle outside.
“I questioned why they had separated me from my lawyers and they said that was none of their business. We left DCI headquarters and proceeded towards Kiambu,” she said.
Njeri recalled pleading with the officers not to kill him saying she has children and a family.
“I kept telling them I had not committed any offence but just imported oil. They told me to remain calm. Another car came and they blindfolded me and then we continued to move. It was a long ride and we even went down a rough road,” she said.
Njeri said she was taken to a room in a house that did not have any windows, and she kept pleading for mercy.
“They asked me if I wanted to relieve myself and I said no. They left me but when I wanted to go to the bathroom, no one was there so I peed on myself,” she recalled.
Njeri said some masked officers went to her room in the morning and interrogated her even further.
“I told them the petroleum is mine and I have all the documents. They then told me they did not see any wrong and that the petroleum was indeed mine. They then blindfolded me and we left the house. They then dumped me at Nyayo Estate,” she added.
Njeri noted she was given three meals a day and her abductors insisted that she eat.
“They gave me vegetables, meat and fruits among them mango banana, avocado and orange,” she added.
According to the lawyer, it all started on November 4, when the oil was in the high seas as Njeri sourced for a buyer for the oil before it could get into Kenya.
Ombeta said the ship ferrying the consignment had been blocked from leaving the dock and the diesel being offloaded until the ownership dispute was heard and determined.