How I Was Abducted and Interrogated: Crazy Nairobian Narrates

Crazy Nairobian, an influential X.com user, has once again shared his harrowing experience of being abducted after participating in anti-tax protests. He was among several young Kenyans abducted under suspicious circumstances, sparking national outrage.

In an X space #CitizenAssembly discussion with LSK President Faith Odhiambo on Friday, July 12, Crazy Nairobian recounted his ordeal of being arrested and forcibly taken from his home.

During this period, he was held incommunicado while Kenyans frantically searched for his whereabouts. Other X influencers, including George Dianno, Austin Omondi, Shard Khalif, Salim Ishamel, and Osama Otero, were also abducted around the same time.

Crazy Nairobian described how masked men stormed into his house:

“For me, it was more of a surprise. We had just come from Thursday maandamano, so on Friday, I was still asleep throughout the day.”

He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt when, at 3 pm on June 21, there was a knock on the door. Four people in balaclavas and a woman wearing a face mask confronted him.

“The first question they asked me was ‘Billy,’ and out of shock, I answered, ‘yes?'”

They forced their way in, and “the first guy went to the balcony, and there was this huge guy who told me to face the wall.”

Billy was handcuffed and forced to sit. “The other guy went for my laptop and my phone. They started interrogating me, asking me to open my phone. But I refused. The whole time they ignored my question: ‘Nimefanya nini?'”

They disregarded Billy’s plea to put on trousers and rushed him to a car.

“I was sandwiched in the back of the car. We drove around for like two hours, so in my mind, I knew I was being taken out of Nairobi.”

His fear intensified as “they didn’t introduce themselves, and I was also blindfolded, so I knew my story was over. We drove around, and then they started whispering, asking for directions. They sent someone the pin.”

The vehicle eventually stopped, and he heard, “toa huyo jamaa kwa kahawa tumalizane tuende kazi ingine.”

He was led into a very cold room. “They told me to lie on my stomach. They asked my name, I told them Billy Simani. The next thing they wanted was my ID number, where I come from, and where I was arrested. I began suspecting these were a different group of abductors.”

He lay on his stomach for an hour before being taken upstairs to an interrogation room.

“Those guys at the interrogation room were a bit friendly. I sat on a chair, and one guy started asking me questions: Name, ID number, social media handles. They told me, ‘We are going to ask questions.'”

They warned him of dire consequences. “They told me this is not a police station, so they might not find you. You have to cooperate. They wanted to know who was funding these protests. I told them no one, it’s just the youth.”