Insecurity rises as armed robbers reign terror in Nakuru

Caroline Kwamboka’s head and neck are bandaged, still groaning in pain following a 30-minute horror in the hands of daring robbers who attacked and assaulted her in her shop.

As she sat on a plastic chair, she lacked the words to describe what transpired between 8.30pm and 9pm.

For some, she was lucky she survived the attack. Enock Koech’s family was not that lucky. The robbers pounced and in their wake, left the family with a dead son.

Koech lived behind Kwamboka’s shop. He heard screams of a woman seeking help, and he decided to respond, not knowing he was endangering his life.

The small act of kindness cost him his life. The robbers, armed with AK-47, shot him dead.

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What started as a robbery at a shop within Baraka, Ngata Estate, left Koech dead and Kwamboka, a shop attendant, injured.

The ordeal of the two is just one of what the locals have described as increasing insecurity cases, where robbers use illegal AK-47 firearms to terrorize people.

Koech is the third victim shot dead within a week by what security agencies claim to be a lone gunman at large.

But Kwamboka described how three men entered her shop pretending to buy airtime at around 1pm. After being served, they left.

“At first they seemed like genuine customers. Later at around 4 pm, I saw them again. It was odd, they seemed as if they were patrolling,” she said.

Unknown to her, the robbers were spying on her, waiting for dusk to strike.
While still in her shop, attending to some orders, Kwamboka says the three men entered the shop, demanding that she surrenders all the money she had.

One of the men, she said, removed a gun from a sack and manned the door as the rest terrorized her inside the shop.

In the 30-minute horror, the attackers assaulted her, leaving her with head, neck, and leg injuries.

After some resisting, she eventually handed over Sh40,000 to the robbers who ordered her to lock herself inside the shop as they left.

“I would hear the man cocking his gun. Suddenly someone screamed seemingly in pain, only to confirm it was Koech,” she added.

The assailants allegedly fled on a motorcycle parked nearby.

She blames the police for failing to address the increase in insecurity cases in the area, which has led to losses for the business community and residents.

Euphamia Achieng, a fish trader in the market, witnessed the attack and reported that one robber, dressed in a police uniform with an AK-47, attempted to intimidate bystanders

On Monday, the decomposing body of an M-Pesa agent who went missing on Wednesday last week was discovered at Technology Farm.

Hannah Waithera was sent to deposit Sh250,000 in a nearby bank but went missing, only for her body to be discovered dumped.

On May 21, 54-year-old Jackson Mwangi was shot dead while his wife, Josephine Mwihaki, was injured during a robbery incident at their shop within Pipeline.

According to police, two men armed with AK-47 attacked the couple at around 8:30pm as they were closing their shop.

They were ordered to surrender the M-Pesa money they had before the shooting.

At around 9pm on the same day within the same Pipeline area, Joseph Kuguma was attacked by two armed men as he left his workplace.

He was robbed of his phone and the money he had.  

Two days later, at around 7:40pm, two men, one armed with a gun and the other with a hammer, attacked a barber and a shop attendant at Nyonjoro, Lanet, getting away with valuables.

After the attack, minutes later, the robbers were reportedly said to have attacked Paul Ndugu, a businessman, and shot him dead at Ndege Ndimu.

In all the incidents, the attackers fled on a motorcycle after the robbery.

7.65 mm spent cartridges were recovered from the scene, which County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara claimed were taken for ballistics analysis to determine if any police officers are involved.

Commissioner Kibaara confirmed that a gang targeting M-Pesa shops has been operating in Nakuru, with incidents reported in Pipeline, Ndege Ndimu, Ngata, and Barnabas.

He said the gang was using sacks in ferrying guns and machetes. He urged the public to be vigilant.