Panic has gripped residents in Likoni, Mombasa County after juvenile criminal gangs adopted new tactics of terrorising the public.
The gangs, largely made up of teenagers including those under 18 years who used to attack passersby with machetes and rob them of their valuables, have now started extorting businessmen and breaking into shops at night.
Locals told Nation.Africa the gangs are now merging to become an entity that splits into groups to carry out their criminal activities at the same time in different areas of the Sub-County.
According to boda boda riders in the Kwa Ndoro area, some of the gang members have been collecting Sh20 from every operator, charges which they said were to allow them to operate in the area.
"Even our customers have reduced because sometimes fights ensue. Some had disappeared but have re-emerged among the same gang that is breaking and stealing from the shops," said Mr Rashid Omar.
The areas which have been hit by the gang include Celtel, Sharks, Kwa Ndoro, and Punguvila, with at least four shops raided in the last week alone.
Their new modus operandi targets shops, bars or even mini-marts, especially those operating until almost midnight.
The latest reported incident was a hit at a local mini-mart in the Celtel area, approximately 700 meters from the Likoni Ferry crossing channel.
On March 13, a CCTV camera captured eight members of the gang making their way into the shop.
After discovering that the main door had reinforced, heavy grills, they resorted to accessing the shop via the residential houses adjacent to a separate door at the back.
Ms Christine Karegi who is the proprietor of the establishment, said the hooded gang armed with crude weapons and machetes locked the houses from the outside, while some were breaking the door to the shop.
"It was almost 2 am when I received a phone call from my neighbour that there were men inside my shop. By then it was too late, they had already ransacked the shop, unmounted the television and packed several food and non-food items including gas cylinders and even all the day's sales," said Ms Karegi.
After 10 minutes, the footage shows them leaving the premises with their loot. The owner of the shop says the loss she suffered from the daring heist was worth more than Sh100,000 but maintains she is still doing a stock-take to determine the extent of the loss.
Witnesses say by the time the police officers from Shelly Beach police station arrived, the gang had left and were on another heist in a different shop within the area.
While at their next target, they broke into the shop, stealing goods and money.
Mombasa County Commissioner Mohamed Noor said security surveillance has been enhanced to curb the cases.
He spoke in Likoni where sensitisation campaigns have been ongoing targeting the youth in a drive to eradicate crime in the region.
"Now that we're almost nearing the end of the Holy Month of Ramadhan, we expect a lot of movements and we are warning them, let them try us, if they don't change then we will deal with them,” he said.
He was accompanied by other security personnel from the secretariat of the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management in the National Police Service.
Mr Noor said there's an effort driven by the Ministry of Interior to reform the youth in the area instead of arresting and charging them while reiterating that public order must be maintained and those found on the wrong side of the law will be dealt with accordingly.
