Puzzle as robbers steal three rifles from police station

Police officers who were searching for robbers who broke into Kibos Police post in Kisumu and stole three firearms and more than 200 rounds of ammunition. [Mactilda Mbenywe/Standard]

Security officials in Kisumu are pursuing daring robbers who defied ongoing curfew, broke into a police post and stole three rifles and more than 100 bullets.

Nyanza Police Commander Dr Vincent Makokha yesterday said the Sunday dawn incident happened at at Kibos Police Post.

“It is true. We have launched a massive hunt for the culprits,” Dr Makokha told The Standard as several police officers combed villages and sugar plantations around Kibos and Miwani areas in Muhoroni Sub-county.

Muhoroni Deputy County Commissioner Erick Wanyonyi expressed fears that the guns could be used in more criminal activities if not recovered immediately.

Investigators have interrogated officers who were on duty on the night the three guns were stolen and how the robbers escaped without being detected by the many police officers who were in the vicinity to enforce the curfew.

“The sooner the rifles and the ammunition are recovered, the better for us. But we can assure the residents that we will get the weapons and the culprits,” said Wanyonyi.

Police reports indicate that officers who were manning the post had retreated to their houses within the post when the robbers raided the armory at around 1am, carting away a G3, a Liai and an MP5 rifles.

They also took away two G3 magazines, two MP5 magazines and 155 bullets.“The officer in-charge who rushed to the scene found the steel door wide open and the guns, their magazines and ammunition missing,” said the report seen by The Standard.

It added: “The padlock to the armory door was not found at the scene and they later called for reinforcement from Miwani Police Station.”

Interestingly, as the Kibos armory was being raided, a group of robbers also defied the curfew and reigned terror on residents at Lolwe and Car Wash estates, where they broke into houses, injured people and stole property.

The robbers who evaded the police enforcing the curfew also attacked homes in Obunga slums. A caretaker of a house in Lolwe, was seriously injured by the gang.

Angry residents accused the police of spending their time attacking innocent people instead of pursuing the gangsters.

Police have since arrested seven people for allegedly attacking and injuring the caretaker. Confirming the arrests yesterday, Kisumu Central OCPD Martha Ngetich said the seven are under interrogation to establish the motive of the attack.

However, Mrs Ngetich said police have not received any reports of robbery with violence and urged residents to reports the incidences for probe.

“We cannot connect the attack to robbery and violence as preliminary investigations have just been launched,” said Ngetich. The caretaker was taken to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Ngetich explained that no arrests of residents breaking curfew rules have been made as police are avoiding as much as possible to congest cells.

“We are ensuring that those out at the wrong time get to their houses safely without harm,” she noted.

Ngetich observed that rowdy youths in the slums of Obunga and Kondele have been pelting police with stones for the past two nights.

“We have not used excessive force, but lobbed teargas canisters to disperse armed youths,” she said.

Related Topics

Robbery Crime