Boda boda riders storm hospital, kill two suspects as police watch

 

 

Boda boda riders in Karatina town in Nyeri County Friday stormed a hospital, dragged out two people and killed them as police officers watched.

The riders accused the two of being members of a gang which had been robbing and killing motorcycle operators in the area.

The victims were among three suspects the operators had apprehended earlier in the day, saying they were members of the brutal gang targeting riders in the town.

Police officers rushed to the scene, dispersed the operators and took the injured suspects to the Karatina Level Four Hospital.

Undeterred by police efforts to rescue the suspects, the operators regrouped.

At least 400 of the riders went to the suspects' homes at Ndaroini village on the outskirts of Karatina town and set their houses on fire.

They then went to the hospital and flushed out the suspects.

Patients and doctors watched in disbelief as the riders stormed the hospital and headed straight to the ward where the suspects were undergoing treatment under police guard.

The two officers guarding the suspects shot in the air to repulse the riders but to no avail.

Hospital security personnel watched helplessly as the suspects were frogmarched to the hospital's gate where they were killed and their bodies set ablaze. 

The third suspect escaped and he is currently being guarded by police officers deployed at the hospital following the incident.

Mathira East police boss James Barasa said his officers were overpowered by the operators because the riders had the support of the public.

"It's true the two have been flushed out of hospital and killed by operators. We managed to save one of the suspects who is currently being treated and in police custody," said Barasa, terming the incident an unlawful act.

The incident comes on the backdrop of the killing of six motorcycle operators in the last six months in separate cases and their motorcycles stolen by unknown people.

Nyeri County Boda Boda chairman Charles Ndegwa said the operators had been terrorised by the gang since November last year.