Rising juvenile crimes leave Naivasha parents, police worried

Parents, security officers and other authorities in Naivasha, Nakuru County, are worried about a rise of crime among young people, including secondary school students. 

Recently, a college engineering student and a Form Four leaver were among suspects arrested following a botched carjacking that left a taxi driver seriously injured.

On the day of the crime, it is reported the engineering student detoured after his father escorted him as he went back to the technical institute he attended.  

“He pretended to have boarded a matatu. He alighted soon after his dad left the stage,” an officer told the Nation.

The two, according to investigators, were used as a “decoy” to lure the unsuspecting taxi driver from the parking yard in Naivasha town.

“The Form Four leaver approached the driver in the pretext of wanting to be ferried to an area in Naivasha, where the main suspect - the university student - and his accomplice lay in wait,” said the officer.

The driver was assaulted and suffered serious injuries, but he managed to escape from his attackers and was hospitalised.

The suspects, Naivasha Sub-County Police Commander Samuel Waweru said, were arrested after they unknowingly dropped a phone as they fought with the driver.

“We used the mobile phone to track down the carjackers and bring them to book,” added the police boss.

Mr Waweru confirmed that more crimes are being committed by people under age 21, citing a recent burglary in the high end LakeView neighbourhood.

“We think peer pressure is at play, with some of those arrested being from well-to-do families,” he said.

Probation officer Joel Kamau expressed concern over the rising crime involving students, citing the arrest of two 17-year-old high schoolers in connection with burglaries in Nyondia, on the outskirts of Naivasha town.

“We are also perplexed by the number of teenagers getting involved in crime,” he said.

The two students were apprehended by police officers who were tipped off by witnesses who saw the youngsters carting away stolen goods.

The two are said to have been recruited by a 25-year-old hardcore criminal whose aim was to mask his criminal activities, especially house break-ins. Mr Waweru said the assumption was that secondary school students attract little attention.

“When police went to the school to confirm their details, teachers were taken aback. Their credentials within the school setup remain untainted,” he said.

“Perhaps their cool demeanour helped them escape close scrutiny by the school administration.”

The police boss said they stepped up investigations to establish if more students are involved in the rampant break-ins within Naivasha.

In November last year, four students were arrested while attempting to sneak into a supermarket with a hidden toy pistol.

The arrest of the four brought to six the number of students held over crime related activities in Naivasha.

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