Police chase shadows as gang turns town into crime hotspot

Saturday
October 13,  2012

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By MACHARIA MWANGI machariamwangi2008@gmail.com
Posted  Friday, October 12  2012 at  23:30

In Summary

• Maai Mahiu residents live in fear as violent group assaults men and women in their homes

They are serial attackers on the loose. Cold and vicious. They leave their victims drenched in blood and fighting for their lives.

They operate in the sleepy town of Maai Mahiu in Naivasha, Nakuru County, where residents live in fear and speak in hushed tones.

No one is willing to be quoted lest he or she becomes a target of attack by this callous gang that has attacked more than 15 people in a fortnight.

An air of apprehension is palpable. The attackers steal nothing from their victims and some now speculate that this could be the work of a cult.

What is causing despondency among the residents is the target of the attackers. “They are inflicting deep panga cuts on their victims’ heads,” said Mr Simon Maina, who was attacked last week.

The motorcycle taxi operator was attacked on October 5 as he went to collect meat for a client at the town’s abattoir.

“It was at around 3am. I was slashed several times and left for dead by the gangsters who did not steal anything from me,” he told the Saturday Nation.

Mr Maina said he had cash, a mobile phone and other valuables during the attack. He was taken to the local dispensary where he was treated and discharged. He received six stitches on the head.

Another victim, 25-year-old Joseph Njenga, is recuperating at the Naivasha District Hospital after he was attacked last Monday.

Mr Njenga had a close shave with death as he headed home from Ngong where he works as a mason. He was walking in the town’s dark alleys with a colleague when they encountered the gang.

“They first attacked my friend who screamed, but before I could react I was cut several times in the head,” said the mason.

The details of the attack remain hazy, but he could remember seeing more than two panga-wielding attackers. The attackers stole nothing from them.

Dr Njoroge Kanyotu, said at the hospital that Mr Njenga suffered scalp injuries, but was out of danger. “He is in a stable condition and will be discharged soon,” said Dr Kanyotu.

In the next bed, 17-year-old Paul Waweru is still in pain with facial injuries after an attack by the gang.

The gang struck at around 10pm on Thursday as he relaxed on his bed after a hard day’s work. “I really cannot recall what happened as I lost consciousness soon after the attack,” he said.

The one person who bore the worst attack of the panga gang is a middle-aged woman who is being treated at the hospital. She suffered serious head injuries.

She was incoherent and could not give an account of what transpired on the fateful night. Medical personnel were planning to transfer her for specialised treatment.

The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Joseph Mburu, was taken aback by the incidents. He said that all the victims at the hospital were out of danger. “It’s really strange…it is more than meets the eye,” said Dr Mburu.

Naivasha police boss Charles Kortok said they had launched investigations into the incidents and arrested a suspect.

“We have a suspect in custody and he is assisting us with investigations. In the meantime, we have invited all those attacked to come for the identification parade,” he said.

At the time of the arrest on Thursday, police fired in the air to repulse an angry mob baying for the suspect’s blood.

The crowd threw stones at the police who quickly whisked away the suspect.

In the ensuing melee, one person was said to have been shot and injured while another
was run over by a vehicle as the protests persisted with the demonstrators blocking the busy Naivasha-Maai Mahiu road.

Nominated councillor John Murigu urged the police to speed up investigations and bring to book the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

“The situation cannot be allowed to go on like this. Police should act and act fast before more people are attacked,” said the civic leader.

One thing is crystal clear — the locals are terrified and are accusing a former jailbird of being behind the attacks.

But no one is willing to come out in the open and name him.