Suspects in Dandora knife attacks lynched

By Cyrus Ombati

NAIROBI, KENYA: Four suspected thugs were at the weekend lynched by mobs in the ongoing crime wave in Nairobi.

Three of the suspects were lynched in Dandora Estate in retaliatory attacks over an incident in which two people had been stabbed to death in an attack on Friday.

Police said locals blocked major roads in the area to deter them from reaching the scene before they stoned the suspects, doused their bodies with petrol and set them on fire.

The residents ganged up on Saturday afternoon as police paid attention to the Jubilee Coalition rally at Uhuru Park and marched to the suspects’ houses, flushed them out before lynching them.

Stones and boulders

According to Nairobi Area Head of Police Operations Wilfred Mbithi, officers were alerted but could not reach the scene immediately because roads had been blocked using stones and boulders.

“Police wanted to save the situation but could not because the roads had been intentionally blocked. We discourage mob lynching as it is criminal,” said Mbithi.

The mob was reacting to an incident in which two people were on Thursday night robbed of their valuables and stabbed to death in an attack by muggers in the area.

Police say the deceased included a 26-year-old primary school teacher.

Residents of Dandora had a week ago staged a protest after gunmen shot and killed two people in a robbery incident. Police assured them of protection.

On Sunday, Mr Mbithi said they had deployed contingents of police in the area and other informal residences to beef up security.

Campaign mood

“We are alive to the fact that we are in a campaign mood and many can read other factors that could be behind the attacks. But I can assure you that they are normal crimes and we are containing them,” said Mbithi.

He said more undercover officers had been deployed to various places. A fourth suspect was lynched in Industrial Area after a robbery.

The deceased was part of a gang that had earlier on shot dead a man and injured another on Saturday afternoon.

The gang had raided a shop, stolen an unknown amount of money before shooting an attendant dead.

They also shot a woman in the shoulder, seriously wounding her. It was then that a mob pursuing one of them caught up with him, lynching him.

The bodies were taken to the mortuary. And a matatu tout was Thursday night shot dead in an attempted carjacking incident along Thika Road, Nairobi.

Escaped on foot

The matatu was headed for Kasarani when three of the passengers turned out to be thugs. They demanded to be dropped on a particular stretch of the road prompting an argument when the tout told them there was no bus stop there.  

One of them shot the tout in the head killing him on the spot. The gang escaped on foot and no arrest has been made so far, police say.