In a chilling social media post on Sunday, July 27, Hanifa detailed how two strange men tried to force her into a car after she got off a bus in the city.
According to her, one of the men had sat next to her during the bus ride. After she alighted, he continued following her and insisted that she should not use a taxi service but instead go home with him in a private car driven by his “brother.”
Hanifa politely refused, telling the man that she had already ordered an Uber. But her rejection only seemed to encourage him further.
“He just wouldn’t stop. He kept saying, ‘Let me take you home. My brother is around with the car,’” she shared.
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Things took a more dangerous turn when the man actually left and returned moments later with another man, his supposed brother, and the car.
“Now both of them were standing in front of me, insisting I should get into their car. At that point, I got really scared,” Hanifa said.
She questioned the two men boldly: “Why are two adult men trying to get a woman they don’t know into their car at night?” But instead of backing off, the men continued pressing her to comply.
Hanifa then threatened to scream and alert nearby people. That finally made the men give up and leave in a hurry.
“I had to tell them that if they didn’t leave, I would scream. That’s when they got angry and walked away,” she recalled.
Hanifa later joked that she urgently needed to buy pepper spray and other tools to protect herself in such situations.
“The guy kept saying, ‘I’m your brother, I don’t trust Uber drivers.’ I told him, ‘If you don’t go away, I will scream.’ I think that scared them. I really need to buy that pepper spray now,” she added.
The incident has shocked many Kenyans online and brought new attention to the growing threats facing activists in the country.
Hanifa’s terrifying experience comes at a time when abductions of activists have been increasing across Kenya and East Africa, especially since the protests against the finance bill in June 2024.
Just last week, Kenyan activist Mwabili Mwagodi reportedly disappeared while in Tanzania. His case gained nationwide attention due to the mysterious circumstances.
Thankfully, on Sunday morning, just hours after Hanifa’s incident, Vocal Africa CEO Hussein Khalid confirmed that Mwagodi had been found abandoned on the Kenyan coast.
His rescue brought some relief, but it also sparked more fear and questions about who is behind these attacks.
Earlier this year, well-known activist Boniface Mwangi and his Ugandan colleague Agather Atuhaire were also allegedly abducted while in Tanzania.
These repeated incidents paint a worrying picture: Kenyan activists are increasingly being targeted, followed, and threatened, not only in their home country but also across borders.
Women activists like Hanifa now face a double threat, being outspoken and being vulnerable as women, especially in the dark streets of Nairobi or foreign countries.
Her courage to share the ordeal publicly has sparked support online and calls for better protection for those speaking truth to power.
As Hanifa put it herself, “We shouldn’t have to be scared just because we stand up for justice. Something must change.”
