Nyeri police arrest pregnant woman, accomplice with pistol aboard matatu

NyerI OCPD Makau Masai (second right) parades two suspects, after they were arrested in possession of a Ceska pistol with five rounds of ammunition at Nanyuki Bus Station in Nyeri as they attempted to board a matatu headed to Nanyuki. (PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/ STANDARD)

Two suspected robbers, one of them a pregnant woman, were arrested by police in Nyeri today and a Ceska pistol with five rounds of ammunition recovered.

They were arrested on this morning as they attempted to board a matatu headed to Nanyuki.

Police believe that the pair were planning to hijack the Nanyuki Express Cabs vehicle in which a Nairobi businessman heading to Nanyuki was aboard.

It is possible that he was the target of the two, who police described as some of the most wanted robbers linked to a number of violent robberies in Nyeri.

According to Nyeri Central OCPD Makau Masai, police officers were acting on a tip-off from members of the public who alerted them to the two after they abandoned some suspicious looking luggage at Homage Building in downtown Nyeri.

Witnesses say that the pair boarded the matatu at around 10 am carrying a black bag which the pregnant woman carried.

However, rather than placing it on her laps, she sat on it, attracting curiosity from other passengers.

Edward Muchiri, a student at Endarasha High School said that the two were among the first passengers to board the matatu and sat at the back seat next to him.

"They kept shifting in their seats and appeared uneasy. A moment later some plain clothes people surrounded the vehicle, identified themselves as police officers and asked the pair to alight from the vehicle with all their possessions," he said.

But they left the bag behind concealed in a leso. Muchiri alerted the police who opened the bag and found the deadly weapon hidden between packs of sanitary pads.

Other eye witnesses say that when the robbers were arrested the woman screamed "usiniue niko na mimba" (don't kill me I am pregnant).

Police sources say it is not clear yet if the two were a couple or whether the woman was really pregnant but they had information that they worked in cahoots.

Nyeri DCIO, Abdirashid Ayub displays a Ceska pistol with five rounds of ammunition at Central police station in Nyeri on August 11,2016, after it was impounded from two suspects as they attempted to board a matatu headed to Nanyuki. (PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/ STANDARD)

"It has not been established yet if she was passing herself off as an expectant woman to fool the public, many of whom cannot suspect that a pregnant woman can be a robber," Makau said.

They will be arraigned in court and charged for their crimes once investigations are concluded.

This arrest comes barely a week after another wanted gunman was arrested following a shootout with police last week while another pair was arrested for a violent carjacking.

Makau said that the efforts his officers had invested to nab the criminals terrorising residents in the town was paying off.