Police save private investigators from irate mob

Nairobi, Kenya: Police were on Monday forced to shoot in the air several times to save five private investigators from irate members of public in Nairobi's Embakasi area.

The staff from Trimo Security Services were planning to arrest a wanted thief in the area when an alarm was raised.

Police say a member of the public suspected the five to be thieves and raised an alarm prompting a reaction from the mob who started to stone them.

Police rushed there minutes later as the staff took cover at a makeshift and shot in the air several times to scare the public and later drove off to Embakasi police station.

The organisation's managing director Jane Mugo said they were looking for a wanted thief when the incident happened. The staff are most of the times accompanied by police to places they visit.

"We are happy to be safe because there was a false alarm that was raised which could have led to deaths and injuries. Police moved in and saved the staff from irate public," said Ms Mugo, a former police officer.

Embakasi OCPD Apolo Wanyonyi said no injury was reported during the drama.

Trimo offers among others VIP protection and debt collection services in addition to private investigation.

Ms Mugo said she suspects the person they were preying on could have set her staff up.

"We do not follow saints and some of our cases are very risky like this one," she says.

Trimo is one of the private investigation organisations operating in the country.