Varsity don shot dead after defying gang

A lecturer was on Wednesday night shot dead by gangsters who trailed his car to Kamuthi area in Nairobi's Kahawa West estate.

Mr Peter Francis Kenya, 60, a lecturer at Kenyatta University’s School of Environmental Studies, was attacked by three suspected gangsters at 11pm. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Guru Nanak Hospital where he had been rushed by a good Samaritan.

The bullet went through the car door and hit the lecturer in his right arm, breaking his upper arm bone and piercing his torso just below the chest.

Going to town

Mr Kenya contested the Mbita parliamentary seat but lost. He is reported to have left the Kenyatta University campus at about 10pm and told his friends that he was going to town. The gangsters trailed the lecturer to an apartment and stopped their car a distance away before one of them walked to his Mitsubishi Pajero car and ordered him to open the doors.

The lecturer instead rolled up his windows and started hooting, prompting the men, who were armed with an AK47 rifle, to shoot him before walking back to their car. The gang confronted and robbed a couple who were entering their compound and bundled into their car which they are said to have used to escape.

A guard said one of the gangsters armed with the rifle accosted the lecturer and shot him while his accomplices guarded the couple. The guard, Mr Melau ole Kelami, said he had been ordered to lie down.

“One of the gangsters walked to the victim’s car and ordered him to open the door, but the man just sat in the car and started hooting. The gangster’s accomplices who had each one foot in their car told him to shoot the lecturer. I heard a bang before he ran back to their car and drove off,” the guard narrated.

A short distance away, the gangsters threw out one of their victims before speeding off. A neighbour, Mr Peter Kairu, rushed to the scene and drove the victim to Guru Nanak Hospital here he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“I was in my house when I heard a gunshot and climbed up the roof to see what was happening. I heard screams and rushed out,” Mr Kairu said. He found the lecturer slumped in the driver’s seat with a mob milling around the vehicle. He tried to administer first aid in vain and decided to drive Mr Kenya to a nearby hospital.

Mr Ndung’u said there was no doctor at the Zimmerman clinic where he took the lecturer, prompting him to drive to Guru Nanak Hospital. Kasarani police boss Jasper Ombati said detectives were investigating the murder.

The lecturer’s death was reported to Pangani Police Station and the officers allowed the family to take the body to Thika Road Funeral Home which is affiliated to Kenyatta University. Mr Kenya leaves behind three wives and several children. His eldest wife and two children live abroad.

Pregnant daughter

In another incident, a 52-year-old woman and her pregnant daughter, 20, were on Wednesday night executed by a wanted criminal in the Grogon B area of Nairobi's Korogocho slums. Police found the bodies after residents reported hearing gunshots in the slums around 10pm.

The suspect is reported to have knocked on Clemencia Nadera’s house pretending to be a police officer, opened fire and walked away without stealing anything. It is said that the gunman, who is being sought by police over another murder, suspected that the woman and her daughter had informed police about his activities.

Mr Ombati said detectives suspect that the gunman and the woman knew each other and appealed to residents to assist police arrest the man. Detectives combed the slum until around 5am looking for the suspect.

Meanwhile, the police boss expressed concern about the increase in cases of abduction and extortion in the city. He said that although police were doing their best to arrest the kidnappers, they need cooperation from the public.