Armed gangsters raid Likoni shops, steal Sh500,000

Four gangsters yesterday raided a shop in Likoni and stole Sh500,000.

The men, who were armed with pistols and two AK-47 rifles, stormed the busy Noor wholesale shop at the Ujamaa bus stage along the Likoni-Ukunda road.

Officers from the nearby Inuka Police Station responded swiftly after the alarm was raised and a shootout with the gunmen ensued.

Some officers who were escorting a lorry ferrying maize flour towards Ukunda were caught in the shootout, and they joined their colleagues in trying to flush out the thugs.

Likoni deputy police chief Elina Wanjala said the gunmen managed to escape on a motorcycle. The bike had no registration number.

Ms Wanjala confirmed that no officer or civilian was injured during the shootout.

Police recovered a baseball cap and a gunny sack that they believe was used to conceal the weapons before the attack.

One of the shop attendants said the gunmen wasted no time when they struck at 9am.

“Four of us were inside the shop because we had just opened. We had planned that one of us would go and deposit money from sales for the past two days. Suddenly, we were ordered to lie down and leave everything,” he said.

The employee said they obeyed the robbers’ commands and watched helplessly as they emptied the tills.

The robbery saw top sub-county security officials convene a crisis meeting to discuss the matter.

Among those who visited the crime scene were Wanjala, Deputy County Commissioner Eric Mulevu, DCI boss Charles Onyango and Inuka OCS Patrick Lumumba.

Traders asked the officers to beef up security, saying such incidents were on the rise. The security agents said they had set up a team to hunt down the gunmen who escaped towards Kwale.