Nairobi police pursue cartel supplying guns to thugs

Home-made guns with five rounds of ammunition were recovered from three suspected robbers gunned down by police after a botched robbery at Adams Arcade in Nairobi on December 18, 2013. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION

What you need to know:

  • Police suspect that the blacksmiths have hired informers based in different corners of the slums, where they keep watch of police movement
  • A different cartel, which operates in the slums, hire out guns to boys as young as 16

Police in Nairobi are looking for blacksmiths who have been crafting guns that they then sell to criminals in the city and neighbouring towns.

Nairobi County Police Commander Benson Kibui said there is a cartel operating in Kariobangi, Kibera and Dandora slums that supplies the home-made guns to criminals.

“We have information but we are still trying to locate these groups because they live deep inside the slums,” Mr Kibui said.

Police suspect that the blacksmiths have hired informers based in different corners of the slums, where they keep watch of police movements.

“We are relying on members of the public to give us information about these gangs. We are also seeking the services of our intelligence officers” he said.

Mr Kibui said a different cartel, which also operates in the slums, hires out guns to boys as young as 16 who have been involved in a series of robberies and carjackings in the city.

The police boss made the revelation in the wake of increased armed crime in Nairobi, especially in the upmarket estates.

INCREASED ARMED CRIME

On Sunday night, Nairobi Chapel’s pastor, Oscar Muriu, was carjacked at the gate of the church located on Ngong Road.

Pastor Muriu was leaving the church in the company of his wife, Beatrice, who is also a pastor at the church, when three armed men accosted them and commandeered their vehicle to Karen.

“They robbed them of their two mobile phones, credit cards and Sh7,000 before abandoning them at an open field in Karen,” Mr Kibui said, adding that the couple was not injured.

Mr Kibui said the police would not relent in the fight against armed criminals, because it was their duty to protect people and property against criminals.

“They have been given several ultimatums to surrender their illegal firearms, but it seems they are determined to keep on with crime,” he said.

Last week, twelve armed criminals were gunned down in different parts of Nairobi in incidents of attempted robbery.

DISARMAMENT EFFORTS

Attempts by different entities and personalities, including Nairobi Senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko, to disarm robbers in the city have been largely unsuccessful.

Earlier this year, Senator Sonko had announced that he would pay Sh50,000 to anyone who surrendered a gun to the police.

Only five guns were recovered in Dandora after his announcement. Another eight guns, among them three automatic rifles, were recovered after President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the State would grant amnesty to those who surrendered firearms to the police.

President Kenyatta gave them a two-month ultimatum from April 5, when he announced the amnesty during a passing-out parade at the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo.

“Since some firearms are still in the arms of criminals who have neglected the call, we are now taking them by force,” Mr Kibui said.

Mr Kibui on Tuesday said the police had forcefully recovered close to 40 firearms in the last two months, saying that nearly all the bearers of the guns had been gunned down by police in different parts of the city.

“It is the only way to save the lives of Kenyans,” he said, adding that a majority of them were home-made guns, capable of firing.