{"id":2000108722,"date":"2026-04-15T10:15:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000108722"},"modified":"2026-04-15T10:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T08:15:30","slug":"kenyan-truck-drivers-distress-call-ends-in-tragedy-in-bunia-eastern-drc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kenyan-truck-drivers-distress-call-ends-in-tragedy-in-bunia-eastern-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan truck driver\u2019s distress call ends in tragedy in Bunia, eastern DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edwin Njuguna Ngugi, a driver from Malava in Busia County, was transporting goods from Mombasa to Bunia when he ran into trouble. His truck reportedly broke down in the volatile Ituri province, an area plagued by armed groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his family, Njuguna\u2019s last known contact was on April 3 at exactly 2:22 p.m., when his phone went silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His mother, Rose Ngugi, said he had earlier expressed fear for his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started speaking with him on April 2 when he complained that the vehicle had broken down in a dangerous place and he was in the wrong hands,\u201d she told the Kenyan media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a final call to his cousin in Mombasa, Njuguna described the dire situation he was facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can see the trouble I have encountered here. The road is very bad, the truck broke down yesterday and the trailer got stuck. I am now being guarded by soldiers\u2026 yesterday I was almost attacked by people with machetes who wanted to rob me, but luckily soldiers came because I am in the bush\u2026 the cargo owner said he would bring another truck to transfer the load and then burn this trailer, so I am waiting for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desperate for safety, Njuguna reportedly sought protection from local soldiers. However, his family alleges that the same soldiers later took his money and abandoned him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is believed to have been subsequently attacked by armed groups, killed, and his truck looted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days later, fellow Kenyan truck drivers operating in the region discovered his decomposing body and shared images in a WhatsApp group in an attempt to identify him. It was through these images that his family confirmed his death, nearly ten days after he went missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His body is currently at Bunia Main Hospital, while the truck remains at the scene of the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family says it lacks the financial means to travel to the DRC to retrieve the body and is now appealing to the Kenyan government for assistance with repatriation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eastern DRC remains one of the most unstable regions in Africa, with hundreds of armed groups operating in the region. Ituri province, where Bunia is located, has faced persistent violence from militias, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and local ethnic groups such as Cooperative for Development of the Congo (CODECO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Edwin Njuguna Ngugi, a driver from Malava in Busia County, was transporting goods from Mombasa to Bunia when he ran into trouble. His truck reportedly broke down in the volatile Ituri province, an area plagued by armed groups.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Kenyan long-distance truck driver who issued a distress call after his vehicle broke down in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been killed, in a case that underscores persistent insecurity in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000108723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[151,99],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000108722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-editors-choice","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000108723,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-10-13-AM-2259.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":600,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-10-13-AM-2259.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-10-13-AM-2259.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-10-13-AM-2259.jpg","width":600,"height":400},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-10-13-AM-2259.jpg","width":600,"height":400},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MixCollage-15-Apr-2026-10-13-AM-2259.jpg","width":600,"height":400}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000108722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000108722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000108722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000108725,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000108722\/revisions\/2000108725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000108723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000108722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000108722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000108722"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000108722"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000108722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}