Five shot dead in robbery incidents

By Cyrus Ombati

Five people were shot dead in separate robbery incidents in Nairobi.

Four of the victims were suspected thugs who were gunned down by police on Wednesday night.

Police say crude weapons were recovered from the suspects.

The first incident happened in Kangemi area where two suspected muggers were shot dead.

The suspects had allegedly attacked pedestrians and robbed them of their valuables and were escaping when an alarm was raised alerting police.

Nairobi Area police boss Mr Anthony Kibuchi said the men were in the company of three others and were allegedly attacking locals.

Residents had also complained of repeated attacks by thugs especially at night.

Mr Kibuchi said two other suspects were killed along Naivasha Road in Dagoretti area in a separate incident and knives recovered from them.

Police said the suspects had attacked pedestrians at a bus stop on Wednesday night. A toy pistol and knives were recovered from them.

The fifth victim - a 69 year old man - was shot dead by gunmen in a robbery in Bulbul area, Ngong on Wednesday evening.

The gang of five had allegedly grabbed Sh200,000 and airtime scratch cards from a local shop and were escaping when they bumped on to the old man shooting him in the chest.

He died instantly as the gang escaped aboard motorbikes that had been waiting for them.

Kibuchi and other witnesses explained the victim was walking into the shop when he met his death.

Elsewhere, several people were Wednesday night left homeless in a fire incident in Kawangware area, Nairobi.

The fire destroyed more than 70 structures before it was contained. Efforts to contain the fire were hampered because of lack of roads to the slum.

Police say no one was injured in the incident and they are investigating the cause of the fire. The victims of the Gatina slums have appealed for help to reconstruct their structures.