New breed of youth gangs on the prowl in city

While Kibera is known as one of Africa’s largest poor urban settlements, where businesses operate for almost 24 hours, it’s now proving to be a home of youth involved in organised crime.

In the last two weeks, police officers based in Ruiru sub-county have been investigating how the gangs operate after preliminary findings linked four gangsters, who live in the area, to increasing crime in various parts of the city.

A detective privy to the ongoing investigations, and who spoke to the Nation in confidence, said police have recovered two guns, which the Kibera-based gangs have been using to conduct their criminal activities in Mlolongo, Mombasa Road, Ngong Road and several estates Kiambu County.

“Inasmuch as they’re young, the gangsters seem to be so brazen, and they have informers,” the detective said.

Firearms and a number of bullets were recovered two weeks ago after one of the gangsters fled from a crime scene, leaving his phone behind.

 On April 3, three gangsters identified as Godfrey Ogola, Joseph Mwai and Reuben Mburu Chege hired a bodaboda from Kibera, where they reside, to Githurai Mwihoko and Kimbo.

Their mission was to rob locals, something they had been doing for months until police arrested them.

Armed with a Ceska pistol and 10 bullets, the gangsters hijacked a car in Githurai Mwihoko and kidnapped the owner identified as Mr Anthony Wahome.

They ordered him to take the back seat as one of them drove towards Mlolongo.

Detectives believe that the trio is behind a number of robberies that have been reported in Mlolongo in the recent past.

As soon as they reached Mlolongo, they tried to attack another motorist identified as Kennedy Luibi, a licensed firearm holder, but Mr Luibi pulled out his gun and shot in the air, forcing the three to scamper for safety.

They later regrouped and hijacked a school van that belongs to a Mr David Simiyu, which they used to flee from Syokimau to Karen.

They vandalised the van before fleeing on foot to Kibera.

As this was happening, one of the robbers had left his phone charging inside the first car that they had hijacked in Githurai.

It is the recovery of the phone that led police to Kibera, where a crackdown is ongoing to flush out more members of the gang.

Thinking that the phone was still in the hands of Mr Wahome their first victim, the three gangsters started sending him threatening messages, warning him against handing over the phone to police.

“They did not know that they were threatening the police and even gave orders on how and where the phone should be taken,” a detective told the Nation.

Police say the SIM card was registered using a different name without the owner’s consent, a common behaviour among gangsters.

Detectives traced the callers, which led to the arrest of the three.

They were taken to Githurai Kimbo Police Station.

Police also recovered an SP1 pistol and 64 rounds of ammunition hidden in Mwai’s house.

The detectives also raided Ogola’s house in Lindi within Kibera, where they recovered 80 rounds of ammunition and a Smith and Wesson revolver.

“We questioned him and he revealed that he had been given the ammunition by 22-year-old Abdi Suleiman Abdul,” said the detective.

It remains unclear from where he got the deadly firearm, but police believe it was stolen from the home of a foreigner who resides in Karen.