•That is the last time the family of the 46-year-old heard from him.
•The men, who identified themselves as police officers, were heavily armed.
Image: FAMILY
When Paul Agik and his wife Sarah started their journey to Nairobi in May for a prayer meeting, she didn't realise it would be the last time she saw her husband.
When they reached Suswa in Narok, some armed men blocked the road, singled him out and bundled him into a waiting white Probox.
That was the last time the family of the 46-year-old heard from him.
The men, who identified themselves as police officers, were heavily armed.
While harassing and beating up the father of nine, they told Sarah to follow them to Mai Mahiu police station.
The trip to the city was aborted.
At the station, Sarah said her husband was not there and the police officers denied ever booking the man she described.
“They said maybe they had not reached the station, and I should wait. I waited until evening from around 11am and they did not show up,” she said.
Unknown to her, that was the start of a crushing search for her husband.
Sarah has been to many police stations and visited every scene where unclaimed bodies are declared, to no avail.
“I have been to River Yala where dead bodies were discovered a few months ago. I did not find him. It is a traumatising journey,” Sarah said.
But Agik's story dates back to 2013.
He lived with his family in East Kwabai area adjacent to Ruma National Park in Homa Bay.
Court documents seen by the Star show that Agik had been long suspected of poaching in the park.
In 2013, KWS and police officers from the area stormed his home, forcing his family to flee. Agik and his wife were not in.
The officers conducted a search and took two phones, and a spear and also recovered snare wires and earth pegs from the farm.
Agik would later present himself at the police station and was arrested and arraigned.
He was charged with stealing or the alternate of handling stolen property.
But the court acquitted him.
Agik then wrote to the Attorney General expressing the intent of mounting a legal challenge to pursue his compensation for wrongful prosecution.
Sarah said the family has never had peace since.
“Sometimes the wardens just walk to my home and pretend that they were just passing by. Sometimes they pretend to be looking for my husband for a friendly chat,” she said.
Sarah said one day, one of the wardens casually gave her a hint she now regrets not taking seriously.
“One of the wardens once came to my home and asked why my husband was poaching. I told him that he should not rely on hearsay and he could search the house. He said that one day they will come for my husband and I will never see him again. I wish I took him seriously,” she said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris