Pipeline-Kiwanja: The dreaded estate where thugs chase residents like goats

 Residents of Nairobi living in low end estates are at the mercy of criminals roaming their neighbourhoods

Residents of Nairobi living in low end estates are at the mercy of criminals roaming their neighbourhoods.

And for thousands of Kenyans living in estates like Pipeline, Kayole, Dandora, Kware and Kawangware, every safe day is a miracle and a gift from the gods .

Those who spoke to The Nairobian told shocking tails about their experiences in the hands of bhang-smoking rapists, gun-toting muggers, and pickpockets — most of whom will maim and kill their victims after stealing from them.

More shocking is the fact that in some hot spots, criminals attack residents during the day, — sometimes as early as mid-day. This is done in the full glare of the public.

This is the fate of residents of Pipelines Kiwanja area. Businesses running money transfer services, hardware shops and mini-supermarkets have been the major targets.

Joash Ouso who runs a mini-supermarket says his business was robbed twice in a span of two weeks.

“I feel like I am not safe here,” Joash told The Nairobian, adding, “ they robbed me two days ago, but here I am opening my store again.”

Joash reported the case at the Embakasi Police Station and was entered under OB Number 08/17/3/17. He however claims the police have not taken action to arrest the thugs.

“The saddest thing is when people report cases to the police and nothing is done,” he said with resignation.

Some residents claim the police only patrol the estate to extort money from wines and spirits joints then disappear.

“We just want to let them know that everybody is worried for their lives,” said Dalmas Oloo, who lives in the area.

He names a stretch near King of Juda Ministries as the most dangerous spot where thugs hide and take advantage of the loud public address system at the church to mug people returning to their houses in the evening.

“The church has a very loud public address system and they are forever praying. The noise hides the cries of victims, who are being mugged as no one will respond to one’s distress call,” he says.

Jim Wauda, a resident who works with Safaricom and is dropped at Taj Mall between 10:30 and 11:00pm, has since shifted to sleep at his cousin’s place on Outer Ring Road rather than face the thugs.

“That field is left for thugs at night. The police only patrol along the main road (Outer Ring), but do not dare go there at night,” he said.

Residents say they are sick of being terrorised by thugs and fear their estate is returning to its crime-ridden past following a series of attacks on women going to the market in the morning.

Mary Kwamboka says she was confronted by thugs on the stretch at the back of the church before

“I was punched in the face repeatedly before, they fled with my bag and phone”.

 

One local pub landlord said he was well aware of the problems and said one of his customers, who had previously been attacked when walking home, no longer comes to the joint.

“Every now and again, we hear news of these attacks, yet the police always walk in the estate wielding guns. We don’t want this,” he added.

A 23-year-old woman, who lives near the scene of the attack – but was too scared to give her name for fear of reprisals, said: “You never know what is going to happen.

Nearly every other week, you hear of someone getting beaten up.”

Stephen Mutua, an MCA aspirant, insists insecurity in the estate must be stamped out: “We need to stand up as a community and fight this sort of thing. We have got to crackdown on them.”

A number of shootings mostly directed at money transfer agents have been reported with latest being last month when a 21-year-old woman was shot dead by thugs and an unknown amount of cash stolen in the same area. When reached for comment, Embakasi police boss James Ekwenye promised to discuss the matter with his counterparts at Tassia and Mukuru before getting back to us. He had not called us back by the time we went to press.

“Give me more time to escalate the matter before reporting back to you in due course,” he said before hanging up.

Security expert Richard Tuta says police must tighten the noose on criminals and send a clear message to would-be offenders.

He also cites gaps in our laws as one of the factors that has encourage crime.

“It is only in Kenya where you can shoot and kill in the morning, you get arrested in the afternoon and by evening you are out on bond,” he said.

He urges Kenyans to stop linking poverty and unemployment to crime, but rather help the police root out criminals in the society.

“Not everyone who is poor or jobless is a thief therefore the government should not fall for this narrative when dealing with crime,” he says.

On the mushrooming gangs in the city, Tuta says the government should form a specific squad or change tact to deal with the gangs before they mutate into a militia group.

“It is shameful that our police want to use the strategies of 1990s to deal with crime yet everything has changed. No wonder criminals have a Facebook or Whatsapp group to plan and execute the activities while police have none,” he said.

He warns Kenyans against sympathising with criminals because of their age, creed, religion or tribe, saying that will encourage such activities.

 

“A criminal is a criminal whether he is 10 or 90 and punitive measures must be meted out on them despite age or religion,” he adds.

Tuta urges City residents more so those from informal settlements to cooperate with the police to root out muggers in their midst.

“The same people who complain to the government are the same people who live with the criminals, so they are part of the problem and this should not be the case,” says Tuta.

He says extreme measures akin to the shooting in Eastleigh are sometimes employed to serve as a warning to other offenders to exit crime or meet the same fate.

“The Eastleigh shooting was only bad to the extent that the offender was already helpless and could have been arrested instead, but this does not stop police from shooting thugs,” he said.

He said if not checked, crime in Nairobi and other major towns in the country could pose a threat to national security.