Four schoolgirls from Likoni, Mombasa, missing since Monday after traveling to Tanzania for jobs, have been found. A village elder contacted their parents after spotting them at a market. They are detained at a police station awaiting questioning on Thursday.
Four Grade 9 pupils from Shika Adabu Comprehensive School in Likoni, Mombasa County, missing since leaving home on Monday morning, have been found in neighboring Tanzania seeking jobs.
Their parents reported they departed as usual for school but never arrived. Mwanatumu Bakari, mother of one girl, said: “My daughter left home on Monday morning and has not returned since. When I contacted her teacher, she told me my daughter did not come to school.” She discovered the issue that evening.
Another parent, Juma Swaleh, found his daughter's wardrobe empty. “She had taken all her things and left her books. We saw no signs or knew of her plans to run away, as she went to school daily,” he said.
Preliminary checks show the girls – three aged 16 and one 15 – stopped briefly in Diani, Kwale County, before boarding a bus to Tanzania. A Kenyan woman spotted them, questioned them, and alerted a village elder. The elder detained them and called the parents on Wednesday morning, confirming they were together at a market asking for work.
Swaleh was relieved: “The village elder called me, and I was glad to know my child is alive. I had been very worried since she disappeared without any news.”
Suspicion points to an illegal job network luring Likoni schoolgirls with promises of better lives. Resident Amina Juma noted two other girls were returned from Tanzania two weeks ago after families raised funds. The case was reported at Inuka Police Station, and the girls were retrieved at the Lunga Lunga border. Police officers said they would be held for questioning on Thursday to probe potential child trafficking.
The girls hail from Shika Adabu, Msikiti Punda, Mishi Mboko, and Mwawechi areas.