Five city muggers in court for robbery with violence
Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) detectives based at the Kamukunji police station on Friday arrested five notorious thieves in Nairobi and charged them with robbery with violence at the Makadara Law Courts.
The five are accused of brutal muggings around Ronald Ngala Street, Luthuli Avenue, River Road and Racecourse Road.
“All the five suspects were positively identified by the complainant who is a businessman within River Road,” DCI said in a statement.
According to the DCI, the five were arrested after a businessman in River Road identified them.
The five were detained until July 7, when a mention for their bond will be consideration.
In February, police in Nairobi arrested three suspected thugs alleged to be reigning terror on residents in the Nairobi CBD.
The three identified as Lenox Otieno, Douglas Hezron and Godwin Irungu were reportedly members of a notorious gang that had been operating within the CBD.
The three were arrested by a combined team of detectives and officers based at the Kamukunji Police Station.
Police say that the three were positively identified by several victims including one who lost Sh174,000 to the gang.
“Our officers are on the lookout for any remnant of the said gang,” said the DCI.
In 2019, the police, together with the county government of Nairobi said that they had eliminated all gangs from Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD).
The news was after embattled Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said he had formed an anti-mugging squad following an upsurge of daytime street muggings in the city which was ineffective.
The county’s security department at the time marked Temple and Hakati Roads and Moi and Haile Selassie avenues as the hot spots for the muggings.
Other areas also cited then as hotspots were OTC – Racecourse Road, Uyoma Road near St Peter’s Clevers Church and the junction of Ronald Ngala and Racecourse Roads towards River Road.
The thieves were accused of causing injuries to victims, snatching phones, watches, laptops, handbags, spectacles, earrings and chains.
The rampant muggings ignited a fierce crackdown and eventual banning of boda bodas from within the CBD.