Police officers who use social media to battle crime wave

The accounts, which have close to 200,000 followers, have been used to reach out, warn and post gruesome images of gunned down suspects [Courtesy]

Undercover police officers are now using technology and social media to track the new breed of criminals terrorising Kayole, Dandora and other parts of Nairobi.

Going by the pseudo names Hessy wa Kayole, Hessy wa Dandora, Hessy wa Huruma and Blackest Widow, the officers have opened and run social sites like Dandora Crime Free, Dandora Love People and Kayole Crime Free Facebook accounts.

The accounts, which have close to 200,000 followers, have been used to reach out, warn and post gruesome images of gunned down suspects to scare the criminals.

On the Facebook pages, the crime busters reveal identities of the suspected gangsters and urge them to quit crime and hand in their weapons to security personnel.

Hessy wa Kayole opened the Facebook accounts last year and shared images of some youths who were shot dead for killing two police officers in Kayole on October 28.

Constables Linus Inima and James Gitahi were shot in Kayole while patrolling on foot. The officers, attached to Kayole Police Station, were gunned down and their firearms stolen by unknown assailants who escaped on a motorcycle.

Kayole police boss Joseph Gichangi said the attackers were armed with an AK-47 rifle.

The five criminals were later tracked to Kenol, Murang’a where they were gunned down after a five-hour shoot-out.

Following the incident, the Hessys shared gruesome images of the bodies on the Kayole Crime Free Facebook page for all to see.

“Hayawi hayawi huwa, mali ya serikali huezi enda nayo far. Cheki sasa #Kimondo,#Kinyanjui aka Kush and your new recruit rot in Hell!!! #Teddy mahali uko ona sasa mbogi yako. Frm kayole(matopeni) to #kenol #CrimeDoesNotPay!” read the pictures’ caption.

The officers later issued a stern warning to a certain ‘Lady Quin’ over her alleged involvement in crime. Through a post in the Dandora Crime Free Facebook group on January 21, Hessy wa Dandora revealed that ‘Lady Quin’ was aiding criminals in their activities.

The undercover police officer revealed that they received information in July last year that Quin uses her handbag to transport guns for criminals.

“Let me not talk much about you and your group but I just want to remind you that crime does not pay,” warned Hessy.

The officers are said to have also shared information that led to the killing of two female gangsters. Adi Vybz,’ described as ‘Kenya’s sexiest gangster died under a hail of bullets on May 9, 2017, while Cleah whose real name was Clare Mwaniki died two weeks later when she was engaged in a shootout with officers during a robbery.