Content creator Sam Mburu also known as Purplesam Kinuthia has recounted a harrowing incident where he narrowly escaped with his life after being held hostage by armed thugs for over six hours.
The celebrity coverage specialist opened up about the ordeal, shedding light on the traumatic experience he endured.
The incident unfolded on September 17, when he was finishing up a shoot near Lenana School in Nairobi.
According to Purplesam, the ordeal began when two men claiming to be Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) approached them, claiming they had received calls from a prominent figure alleging that they were photographing his house which is in the vicinity.
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They then ordered Purplesam to accompany them to their offices, trusting the supposed officers, Purplesam and his colleague agreed to accompany them to the KWS offices. However, their journey took an ominous detour.
"It was basically a sunset setup so by 6.30 we were done and on our way home when 2 guys posing as KWS officers approached us saying that they got calls from a certain 'mheshimiwa' around the place we were shooting, claiming that we were taking pictures of the house," Purplesam said.
The situation escalated quickly as the impostors insisted on taking them to the KWS office, but Purplesam sensing danger, requested to use the main road for their safety. This request was met with force and threats as the fake officers brandished knives.
"They asked us to go to the office through Ngong forest, and we requested, for our safety, that we should use the main road. That's when they started being forceful and eventually took out knives.
"They then dragged us into the forest and held us hostage for hours (from 6:45 PM to 11 PM), accessing our M-Pesa accounts and beating us up. They later released us, leaving us with nothing but our sim cards," he said.
The traumatic experience took a toll on Purplesam, who revealed that he lost all his equipment during the ordeal.
In the wake of this horrifying incident, he is reaching out to the community for support in rebuilding his life and acquiring new equipment to continue creating content.