Five robbery suspects shot dead in Nairobi

By CYRUS OMBATI

Nairobi, Kenya: Five suspected thugs were Monday night shot dead in botched robbery incidents in Nairobi and weapons found on them.

Police said the first incident happened in Tena area near Umoja where four suspects were killed by police bullets in a mugging spree.

Police say they recovered two firearms from them. Nairobi police boss Benson Kibue said the four had been mugging and robbing residents when an alarm was raised alerting them. One of the thugs had an AK 47 rifle.

“Personal effects that had been robbed from pedestrians were recovered from the slain suspects. They had also injured several people in the mugging incidents,” said Kibue.

He added the men aged between 20 and 25 had been attacking people who were alighting from vehicles. The bodies were later taken to the mortuary.

A fifth suspect was felled in Muthama, Dagoretti area where another gang had been mugging residents. Police said they were also alerted by the victims and other members of the public.

Police said they are also investigating the killing of another man whose body was found lying next to two loaves of bread he had bought in Kinoo area, Nairobi.

The man was shot dead on Monday night by unknown gunmen who escaped without stealing anything from him. Police said they are yet to identify him.

The killings brought to eight, the number of suspects killed since Monday. Three others were killed on Monday in Sunton area after robbing Sh2 million from the management of a petrol station.

Police said they recovered Sh100,000, which was part of the Sh2 million that had been robbed from the petrol station in Riruta.

Kasarani OCPD Augustine Nthumbi said eight men had raided the petrol station in the morning hours and robbed the money before escaping in two different groups.

One group drove towards Thika while the other raced to Kasarani area where they were killed and a home made gun with four bullets found on them.

He added the other accomplices escaped on motorbikes in the drama that lasted almost four hours. Nthumbi said they are yet to arrest any other suspect in connection with the attack.

Cases of armed robberies have been on the rise leaving police to struggle to contain them. And to contain them, police have been reacting by killing most of the suspects.