Crimes involving police firearms on the rise

Crimes involving firearms exclusively used by police officers, especially the AK-47 and G3 rifles, have increased in the past two months.

Police records also indicate that at least three police officers have been shot and another seriously injured by their colleagues in unclear circumstances in the last one week.

On Monday morning, police recovered a G3 rifle from a dumpsite in Umoja Inner Core, Nairobi, just a day after Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko’s bodyguard was shot dead by a man believed to have been armed with an AK-47 rifle.

National Police Service spokesman George Kinoti said that police received a report from Mr James Waweru Njoroge and Mr Simon Muguya, who operate the site.

Police went to the scene and recovered the G3 rifle and a jungle jacket.

Police confirmed the firearm belonged to the government but by Monday evening had not revealed the unit it was issued to.

On Thursday last week alone, police recovered three AK-47 rifles, a Ceska pistol, handcuffs and jungle uniforms in separate incidents in Kayole, Ruiru and Nanyuki.

Police records indicate that AP officers from the Mugendi Camp shot dead a suspect and seized a Jericho pistol loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition in Kayole.

Another suspect was shot dead by police officers from Ruiru who seized a Ceska pistol, handcuffs, a pair of jungle uniforms, nine rounds of ammunition, most used by G3 rifles, and four stolen passports.

The same day, Kenya Wildlife Service personnel on rhino surveillance arrested two suspects and seized two AK-47 rifles with serial numbers 7031and 629388 in Nanyuki.

At the Ifo refugee camp, police seized another two AK-47 rifles and 19 rounds of ammunition at Block A5. A suspect, Mr Hassan Maalim Mohammed, 33, was arrested and charged in court.

Another Ceska pistol loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition belonging to security agencies was recovered in Kayole on Saturday when police shot dead a suspect.

Four armed suspects had raided an M-Pesa and Equity agent shop and robbed Ms Eunice Nyokabi of cash of unknown value. As they were escaping, they shot in the air, attracting the attention of police officers on patrol.

At least five robbery victims have reported in the last one week that their attackers were armed with AK-47 rifles.

HOUSE RAID

On Friday, on Kombe Road in Karen, four suspected robbers armed with an AK47 rifle raided the house of Mr Morne Deeflefs and robbed the family of jewellery and other household goods.

Meanwhile, police headquarters on Monday said one of the police officers who shot dead a colleague would be arraigned in court on March 24.

On Thursday last week, Constable Robert Isaboke of the Pangani Police Station was shot twice in the head by his colleague, who dumped him in a trench. He was taken to hospital but died the following day.

The suspect was identified as Constable Abdulahi Wako, attached to the Capitol Hill Police Station. The police on Monday presented a miscellaneous application seeking more time to complete their investigations.

On Thursday night, an officer attached to Operation Linda Boni was shot and seriously injured by his colleagues in Mpeketoni Town.

Two police officers claimed that they received information from a bar owner that there was a suspicious man in the bar. They further claimed that the victim refused to identify himself and he was arrested.

The officers claimed that as he was being escorted to the station, he attempted to grab the rifle of one of the officers.

Two weeks ago, AP Constable Erick Nyakundi was shot dead by his colleagues in Kakuma in unclear circumstances.

The officer was shot two times by his colleagues from Kakuma Police Station after he was suspected of having stolen a computer belonging to the National Intelligence Service (NIS).