Robbers hold families hostage for seven hours, steal cars

Two families were on Monday night held hostage for seven hours at their homes in Mweiga Town, Nyeri County, by armed robbers who stole money, household items and cars.

The families who are neighbours in an estate in Mweiga Town were accosted by a gang of seven men armed with machetes at around 8:30pm Monday night and terrorised them till 3am demanding for money and anything valuable.

They would later make away with over Sh70,000 in cash money, electronics and two cars belonging to one of the families.

At around 8:30pm, Mr Patrick Mute, a businessman, and his wife were ambushed by the thugs who ordered them to keep quiet as they bundled them into the living room.

The couple were roughed up as their children watched in shock as the men ordered him to give out all the money they had.

“They told us to give out all the money and they would not hurt us,” said Mr Mute.

The robbers would then tie the family up and ordered them to lie on the floor as they ransacked the house.

BRIEF CONFRONTATION
The ordeal went on for six hours as the thugs packed all valuables and took Sh13,000 from Mr Mute.

A brief confrontation ensued and Mr Mute was injured on his forehead by one of the robbers who was demanding his ATM cards.

To the surprise of the captured family, the robbers apologised and even administered first aid to Mr Mute.

“They said hurting us was not part of their plan and even put down cushions for me to rest on. That was shocking,” he said.

After loading up all the valuables they could find the gang crossed over to a neighbouring house where they broke in through the windows at around 2:53am.

Mr Gibson Githaiga, who also runs several businesses in Mweiga and Nyeri towns, was asleep when the gang broke in.

They took a shorter time to ransack the house, making away with phones, tablets, clothes, utensils and even foodstuff.

However, the robbers also took some time to indulge in a bottle of wine that was in the kitchen.

They also made away with two cars that were packed outside the house, a white Subaru Impreza station wagon and a white Toyota Noah minivan.

Police later recovered the Subaru abandoned on the Nyeri-Naromoru highway and vandalised. They also left behind a phone and some clothes they had stolen from the two houses.

Kieni West Divisional Police Commander John Kemboi said they suspected the robbers cold have been local residents.

“These people knew what they came for the houses they were targeting. We suspect they are from around or were working with a former employee,” said the police boss.

Nobody has been arrested so far.