Police hunt for gang terrorising Mombasa residents

Police in Mombasa are hunting a dreaded knife-wielding gang that has been terrorising Likoni Constituency residents in Mombasa County and causing fear.

Four youths said to be members of the criminal gang have been arrested.

CRUDE WEAPONS

Area OCPD Benjamin Rotich said the suspects were found with crude weapons and were being held at Likoni police station.

The arrests came after the gang attacked a man, only identified as Abdallah, on Monday night.

He was slashed with pangas and robbed of his motorcycle and phone.

A witness said Abdallah was coming from a mosque in Approved Estate at around 7pm when he was attacked by the more than 20 youth armed with crude weapons.

“The youth who were armed, however failed to speed off with the motorcycle when residents raised alarm and scared them [away],” a witness said.

GANG

The gang, comprising of more than 40 youth, has been on the loose attacking people as early as 7pm.

In the last two weeks, at least five people have been seriously injured after being attacked.

Police are yet to identify the exact gang members.

A number of juvenile gangs namely – Kapenguria Six, Wajukuu wa Bibi, Young Thugs and Chafu – have been behind attacks in Likoni Constituency, with the recent attacks linked to the Young Thugs gang.

The gangs have been operating in Ushindi, Magwagwani, Kona ya Mchanga, Approved and Majengo Mapya.

RAID

Police have cracked down a number of gangs with some of members surrendering to the authority.

 “We are not going to sit down and watch them try to disrupt peace among residents. We must deal with them head on. Watch this space,” said Mr Rotich.

Last week, Mr Rotich and the area CID boss raided houses of the suspected gang members and made arrests.

Among those arrested were three youths and their mothers. The women were arrested after they tried to hide their sons from the police.