Police gun down five suspected thugs in Nyanza’s Kisumu town

By Rushdie Oudia

KISUMU, KENYA: Five suspected gangsters have been killed in Kisumu town as police stepped up the fight against rising insecurity in the area.  

Three gangsters were on Friday at around 3pm, shot dead by police after an ambush. 

Police also recovered a Ceska pistol, a home-made pistol, 40 rounds of ammunition and three mobile phones during the ambush.

Also found was a machete and a heavy metal used in robberies. Nyanza PPO Joseph Ole Tito said the three were part of a gang that has been robbing residents for the past one month. 

Fire exchange

Ole Tito said the gang has been fleeing to nearby towns after committing the crimes.

 “After an incident where one of Kisumu council staff was robbed of a pistol at a local hotel, we decided to track down the gang,” he said.

He said the thugs started shooting at the police next to a guest House in Migosi when they spotted the officers, prompting them to fire back.

Two were killed on the spot. A third one, who was injured, was found dead in Kondele area.   

One of the criminals shot dead was identified to have raped a lady the previous week after robbing her off Sh27, 000 and unspecified amount of cash that was in US dollars. 

The thugs forced to withdraw Sh20, 000 from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) at gunpoint. The police are using the mobile phones to trace possible accomplices.

Snatch phone

In another incident on Friday night, a suspected thug was killed by a mob after he tried to snatch a mobile phone from a man in Nyalenda Estate. 

The suspect died while being taken to the Nyanza Provincial Hospital after he was rescued by police.

And yesterday, at around 11am, police shot dead a thug as three escaped.  The suspect was gunned down near Taifa Park. Police said the gang often target petrol stations. 

Kisumu has been in the grip of a wave of crime, with residents urging  authorities to intensify crackdown on gangsters.