Woman’s shocking ordeal in the hands of Nairobi muggers

Groups of muggers have invaded Nairobi CBD streets where they have been snatching jewelry, wigs, mobile phones and even spectacles from pedestrians.

Following a public uproar, police have linked the thefts to invasion of hawkers as well as boda boda operators and have deployed a special squad to reign in the brazen attackers who strike in broad daylight.

A Nairobi resident, Susan Warui, is one of the latest victims of the marauding gangs that have taken over the streets of Nairobi.

Susan was badly shaken when on Saturday last week, a gang of muggers attacked her as she walked along Tom Mboya street.

“As I was crossing the road, I heard someone grab my ears from behind… It was very fast I didn’t even know what happened; I just felt pain in my ears.

When I touched my ears, I realised my earrings had gone and when I turned back I saw someone running.

A few guys tried to run after him but he was too fast,” recounted Susan.

In a flash, she lost her earrings she said were valued at Ksh.17,000 and was left nursing scratch marks behind her ears and neck.

“They were made of gold; white gold and yellow gold… How he grabbed the earrings from both ears shows he followed me and learnt how to do it,” she added.

Luckily, the attackers did not manage to run away with her golden chain.

“He grabbed the chain but it fell inside my blouse… I still have it with me… Since that day, the moment I go downtown I remove my chain, watch and earnings,” said Susan, who triggered a social media frenzy of the attacks when she posted about her ordeal on Facebook.

Such is the life of many Nairobi residents or visitors who venture into the lawless streets.

Posting on Facebook, one man said attackers grabbed his spectacles as he walked along the same street, a situation police have now blamed on congestion and invasion by hawkers and boda boda operators.

“We allowed a lot of impunity to happen here, you remember during the election people said let people hawk because they wanted votes now elections are over,” said Nairobi Regional Commissioner Bernard Leparmarai, during a press address on Monday.

Nairobi Police Commander Japhet Koome says 35 people have been arrested and will be arraigned and charged with robbery with violence, an offence that attracts a mandatory death penalty on conviction.

The county government has also moved in to assure the public that boda boda operators have been banned from the city centre from Tuesday.

“From tomorrow (Tuesday) we don’t want to see any boda boda operating in town… Some of these muggers are snatching properties from ladies and escaping on motorcycles,” said Director of Operations at City Inspectorate Department, Peter Mbaya.

With critics arguing that the move to drive out boda boda operators and hawkers from the CBD is a move that has come too little too late, it remains to be seen how the teams will restore sanity in the Capital.