Gun stolen from AP post recovered

By Tobias Chanji and Hassan Barisa

Kwale, Kenya: Police in Diani Town of Kwale County have recovered a gun believed to have been stolen from Emali Administration Police camp several years ago.

According to Msambweni OCPD Joseph Omijah, the G3 gun is believed to have been used in a several robberies in the area.

And reports from Hulugho in Ijara District of Garissa County indicate that a 24-year-old herdsmen wanted for various banditry crimes has surrendered an AK 47 rifle to local police.

Police said Ibrahim Noor Duale was accompanied by local elders when he surrendered the gun with several bullets to Ijara OCPD Caleb Matoke on Friday.

Omijah said they were optimistic that violent crimes in the town will reduce following recovery of he gun.

“We have had several cases of robberies in this town and we believe the weapon was used in 90 per cent of the incidents,” he explained.

The OCPD said police patrolled Kona ya Musa and Darling areas during the day on Sunday to map them out in preparation for the night raid. “They (criminals) thought that we wouldn’t come back at night since we spent several hours there during the day,” he said adding that most of the crimes have been happening between 8-9pm.

Suspects fled

Omijah said that at around 9.45pm on that day, police tried to stop two suspects, who were on a motorbike at Kibundani area but the two jumped off the motorcyle and disappeared into a nearby thicket.

One officer later found the gun inside a black bag with 11 rounds of ammunition after ransacking the motorbike. Police were able to identify the gun because of its registration number.

The police boss said the same gun was used by Ali Delawa, a suspected Al-Shabaab adherent, to carry out various criminal activities in the area. Delawa was gunned down early this year in Malindi.

“But this is not an end to crime as there are two guns still missing – an AK 47 and a Ceskar. We will make sure we recover them,” he assured.

Omijah at the same time called on police officers to be more vigilant when going about their duties so that they don’t lose their weapons to criminals.

“This is the weapon they used to terrorise resident and because we have taken it away from them, they will want to replace it. We cannot afford to lose more guns due to negligence,” he warned.

He also urged the public to work with police to improve security in the area. Most robberies in the town have targeted M-Pesa kiosks, shops and fuel stations.