A family in the Musikoma area, Bungoma county, is appealing for justice after their loved one met his death under strange circumstances.

Ernest Ojuli allegedly died in the hospital after being tortured by unknown men he encountered at his workstation.

The 45-year-old’s colleague at the welding shop painfully narrated the deceased’s final moments before his death.

“He called me at around 7:30am, informing me that he might not show up at work. He told me he was going somewhere for some errands. However, when I got to the workshop, my workmates told me a different story, saying he had been around but had left. I called him while I was at the workshop, and he gave me instructions,” Ojuli’s colleague said.

It was not long before Ojuli returned to the workshop, but only briefly, as his colleague explained.

The welder and fabricator brought some iron to his shop before leaving with some men who claimed they needed fertiliser applied on their farm.

“He came back to the shop and stayed for a moment. At 1 pm, two individuals came and picked him up. They asked him to visit a nearby timber yard because there was some work. They claimed they needed his welding services. They left with him, and after five minutes, they returned with him and left again. That was the last time we saw him,” he narrated.

Ojuli had left his phone at the workshop, and his colleagues feared picking up any calls since it was his personal phone.

They closed the shop at 8pm without hearing from him or seeing him, and they went home with many questions.

“Some of my colleagues live behind the workshop. They called me and said they had been informed that Ojuli was in a forest and that he was neither talking nor walking. I called my cousin and told him what I had been informed. I left and headed to the forest.

I found my cousin there. We lifted Ojuli and took him to the hospital. He was rejected at two hospitals before being accepted at the third one. He died the following day, on Thursday, November 13,” he said.

Ojuli, described as a peace-loving man, left behind a widow who is struggling to come to terms with his death.

She spoke about the last time she saw him as she cried out for the government and relevant authorities to intervene.

“When my husband left for work, I knew he would return late in the evening, alive and well. When it reached around 7pm, I was expecting my husband to send me money for supper. There were no signs whatsoever. I sent him a ‘Please call me’ message, but he did not call.

At 8 pm, the children started asking for him. They called their sibling, who then called me, asking if their father had returned home. At the time, they were at his workshop,” she emotionally recounted.

At 10 pm, some individuals visited Ojuli’s wife, asking her to give them her husband’s jacket and clothes.

She asked them what had happened to her husband, but they became upset and threatened to leave.

“I told them I was only asking to know what had befallen my husband. I did as they asked. They told me that I would receive a call. I never got a call. I slept worried. In the morning, I called my son and asked how they were faring at the hospital. He told me their father was in critical condition. He had lost his memory,” Ojuli’s wife said.

A young man said a scan showed that Ojuli had internal bleeding, which led to his death at the hospital.