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Theft of cellphones on the rise in Nairobi


Last Friday, Mr Robert Nyachoti was walking near Kwa Chief area along Ngong Road when a man he knows well approached him and requested to use his cellphone to make an emergency call.

The man told him that he was in a small fix and needed to talk to his wife. Without suspecting anything, Nyachoti casually handed over his phone.

ROBBED

Little did he know that the man he identified as Kevin Karamu, who is a tout in Nairobi, was planning to rob him.

Speaking to Nairobi News, Mr Nyachoti says that as he was busy talking to a friend, Mr Karamu vanished and up to date he has never seen him.

“I was busy having word with a friend when he suddenly disappeared into the thin air,” Mr Nyachoti said.

The victim said he reported the theft at Embulbul Police Station under OB number 04/03/7/22020.

A detective following the matter up said the tout left Ngong with the phone still on and later switched it off within the outskirts of Umoja estate in Nairobi.

Robert Nyachoti who was robbed of his cellphone by an acquaintance along Ngong Road on July 3, 2020. PHOTO | COURTESY
Robert Nyachoti who was robbed of his cellphone by an acquaintance along Ngong Road on July 3, 2020. PHOTO | COURTESY

PHONE THEFT

The victim said that he can still access some of the features in his phone, including Google photo store, where the suspect has been uploading images of his wife and son.

“I am sure he will be arrested and be brought to book for the theft,” Nyachoti said.

This just one of the many cases of mobile phone thefts that have lately been on the increase within the city.

About two weeks ago, a form two student at Kamiti Secondary School was arrested after he snatched a phone from a member of the public in Kahawa West.

The minor only escaped the wrath of the public after he confessed his crimes and named two of his accomplices and a senior student in his school who buys the stolen phones from them.

PETTY CRIME

In another incident which happened at the weekend, two young boys burnt alive in Komarock estate for the theft of a mobile phone.

Area residents said the two boys was nabbed by angry boda boda riders who caught up with them just minutes after they stole a phone from a woman.

Speaking on the matter of phone theft in the city Nairobi County Police boss Mr Philip Ndolo warned people behind such petty crime that their days are numbered.

He also asked the youth to engage in productive activities instead of engaging in crime.

“I want to warn such perpetrators that their days are numbered. Surprisingly, those who get arrested are young people and I ask them to change their ways before the law catches up with them,” Mr Ndolo said.