By Cyrus Ombati
NAIROBI, KENYA: Three suspected thugs were on Sunday night shot dead in a botched robbery incident in Nairobi’s Dandora estate.
The three men aged between about 20 and 25 were part of a four-man gang that had been robbing residents when police were alerted.
Police say they recovered three pistols with 12 bullets from the slain men while a fourth suspect managed to escape on foot.
According to police, they also recovered a number of valuables that had been stolen from the pedestrians.
Nairobi Area police boss Benson Kibui says there tens of guns in the wrong hands used by gangsters in violent attacks in the city.
“We are strategizing to come up with new ways of addressing this menace. There are many guns out there in the wrong hands,” he said.
Dandora is one of the most dangerous estates in the city as it records high rate of crime. In South C area, police said two motorists were robbed of their cars but so far they have recovered one.
Cases of mugging and violent robbery have been on the rise in Nairobi with the incidents being at the peak in the Central Business District where hawkers are now operating from.
Last weekend alone, two police officers were killed by thugs in separate attacks in the city.
The first officer was killed in Eastleigh Sunday at dawn at a robbery incident on a store. A gang of five had raided a go-down before police were alerted.
Kibui said the officers were confronted when they arrived at the scene with one of them being fatally wounded.
“Unfortunately one officer was killed on the spot while one suspect sustained an injury but managed to escape. We are looking for them,” said Kibui.
Another police officer was Friday night shot dead by men believed to be thugs in an ambush in Nairobi's Korogocho slums.
Nothing was stolen from him after the 11pm incident and the gang escaped soon after the shooting.
