Brave residents lynch suspect in attempted robbery
Daring residents of Fuata Nyayo slums in Nairobi disarmed a man and lynched him as he attempted to rob a businessman.
The suspect was armed with a homemade pistol loaded with two bullets and was in the company of two accomplices who managed to escape.
Kenya Police spokesperson Gatiria Mboroki said members of the public spotted the gun in one of the suspect’s hands in the Tuesday 8 pm incident.
“One person dared to fight the suspect and overpowered him then seized the firearm. Other residents, angered by the suspects’ plot, beat him up to death,” Ms Mboroki said.
She said the firearm was handed over to the police who are now looking for the other two suspects who escaped. The body of the slain suspect has been taken to the City Morgue.
Cases of armed robberies are on the rise in the city with the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and light weapons, KNFP, citing proliferation of firearms as the greatest challenge to fighting crime.
KNFP estimates in the latest report that at least 600,000 illegal firearms are in the hands of criminals in Kenya.
During the Sub-Sahara Africa regional review conference on the Geneva declaration on armed violence and development, the Deputy Director of KNFP James Nanguli said most firearms enter the country from war torn neighboring states.