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Woman shot dead inside matatu as crime wave hits Umoja

December 15th, 2015 2 min read

By HILARY KIMUYU

A family in Umoja estate, Nairobi is still coming to terms with the tragic death of a sibling who was shot by gangsters inside a matatu on the eve of her 25th birthday.

The shooting of Miss Mercy Atieno on Saturday night by carjackers inside a town-bound matatu that belongs to Umoinner Sacco, was one of the three incidents at Umoja estate in what is seemingly an increased spate of crime in the neighbourhood.

The other incidents involved the robbery of a supermarket where goods of unknown value were stolen and the mysterious death of young man at a construction site in what was first reported as a case of suicide.

According family members the young woman who was slain inside the matatu was shot from close range after she protested when a fellow passenger, apparently a gangster, snatched and made an attempt to make away with her phone.

When she and her niece, with whom she was travelling, confronted the man who had taken her phone, an accomplice of the thug stood up and fired a shot that killed the victim on the spot.

GUN WIELDING THUGS

“We have lost a very dear member of our family. Mercy was a brilliant young lady who was a beacon of hope in our family. We are devastated for losing our last born sister under such gruesome circumstances,” the deceased’s elder brother who did not wished to be named told Nairobi News.

In another incident, a young man’s body was found dumped at a construction site in Umoja Innercore on the morning of December 09, 2015.The body was found with a rope tied around the neck but the posture of the body suggested that the death was unlikely to have caused by suicide. Police later took the body to City Mortuary.

On Saturday, Skymart Supermarket and JJ butchery along Moi Drive, also in Umoja Innercore, where robbed by a gang of 4 gun wielding thugs. According to eyewitness, the thugs entered and robbed both buildings which are adjacent to each other at around 9pm.

Efforts by Nairobi News to get the police’s comment on these incidents proved futile as phone calls to both the OCPD and OCS of Buru Buru Police Station went unanswered.