Police in Tharaka-Nithi County have arrested a man who faked his kidnap to lure his estranged wife.

Mr Godfrey Munene, 37, from Mubukuro village in Chuka was arrested by detectives on Friday in his hideout after a six-day search.

He was arrested in Kamutugu village, Kirinyaga County,

The boda boda rider confirmed to police that he colluded with his daughter to pretend that he was kidnapped from his house so that his wife, who abandoned them, could come back home.

“I knew my wife would come back home and help me take care of the family if she heard that I had been kidnapped and killed,” said Mr Munene.

According to his grand plan, he was to return home after receiving confirmation that his estranged wife had returned take care of their three children.

VERY STRESSED

“I work till late in the night and I am always very stressed because my children are alone since she left,” he told police.

The daughter told police that her father had coached her on what to tell neighbours and police.

Father and daughter had hoped that their carefully composed emotive message will reach the woman and prompt her to return to her ‘suffering children’

“My father got an accident while working with his motorbike and he can no longer pay my school fees. So I wanted my mother back to help him raise the money,” explained the daughter.

The man was released after he pleaded for forgiveness, but was warned against fooling the police.

Confirming the incident Chuka/Igambang’ombe OCPD Beatrice Kiraguri said it is illegal to pretend to be in danger. He asked the public to refrain from such acts.

She added that police used a lot of time and resources to track the man to his hideout.

“We made all the effort to rescue him only to find that he was pretending,” said Ms Kiraguri.