Motorist encounters friendly thugs

By NANJINIA WAMUSWA

Armed robbers are dangerous and they don’t negotiate with their victims. However, one Joseph Okwiri recently had the ‘pleasure’ of encountering friendly bandits on Lang’ata Road at night.

Okwiri had paid a friend a visit in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County, where he stayed till late.

Unfortunately, on his way back at around 10pm, he got a flat tyre near the Carnivore restaurant junction. He, therefore, parked the car by the roadside and stepped out to change the tyre.

“As I loosened the bolts, I felt a soft tap on my shoulder and sprung up, a spanner in hand, ready to attack. I saw three smartly dressed men who warned me not to do anything foolish, like screaming, or I would live to regret,” Okwiri said.

Rich

The gang demanded Sh100,000 from him, but he pleaded that he didn’t have that kind of money on him. They warned him not to waste time acting broke because people who own such big cars (he drives Subaru Forester) are rich. Okwiri attempted to push his luck by pleading that he only had Sh30,000. They argued for some time before they agreed to take the money.

“Give us the money, then,” bellowed one of the thugs.

Much to Okwiri’s shock, one of them handed back Sh500 saying, “For emergency, just in case your car breaks down ahead!”

 Okwiri adds that as this happened, several vehicles, including three police patrol cars, sped by unaware he was in trouble.

He says, “We all looked like good friends who were stranded.”

As they rose to go, Okwiri requested them to wait for him to quickly fix his tyre, since it was risky and other robbers might attack him yet he had no money.

One of them asked whether it was a trap because he could have signaled the police. Okwiri said, “No”. They agreed to stay and even helped him change the flat tyre.

But just before they were done, two suspicious looking men passed by. Shockingly, the thugs, who were assisting him replace his tyre, identified the two as dangerous carjackers based on Lang’ata Road.

“These are the most dangerous carjackers around here. You are lucky. Those ones could even have killed you,” they explained to an astonished Okwiri.

After replacing the tyre, Okwiri sped off towards town leaving them at the same spot. He recalls one of them saying, “Take care sir.”

He says they were so friendly he was surprised they didn’t offer him a drink baada ya kazi!