A shop owner in Mombasa was shocked on Saturday morning, April 10, when he found his shop wiped clean in an apparent robbery.
CCTV cameras captured a gang of five members break into the shop on the night of Friday, April 9, and steal assorted goods including bales of flour, milk and electronics.
In the incident which occurred in Kisauni, Mombasa, the thugs are believed to have used a lorry to empty the shop in an exercise believed to have lasted for at least two hours.
"When I opened the shop, I found it empty. There was nothing and I was completely shocked. I had a TV, I also had a radio and bread. They carried sodas, flour and 10 boxes of milk.
"It is like they had a lorry. They were loading the goods on the vehicle," said the owner of the shop, Fredrick Muria, to Citizen TV.
Witnesses noted that Kisauni had for years been a hotbed of criminal activities and gangs.
"They first tried to break in but they were not successful. They then returned after two or three hours yet there were no police officers," stated a witness.
"We do not have security in this neighbourhood. Every person is on their own. Insecurity has been on the rise," added another.
Muria noted that some armed thugs had invaded the neighbourhood last week and terrorised the residents but police officers did not take any action.
"When we ask police officers to provide security at night between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m., no officer shows up. When we call them for help, they claim that they are held up elsewhere," said another resident.
The security situation in Kisauni has been dire over the years attracting the attention of Interior CS Fred Matiang'i.
"The Inspector-General of Police and I are paying special attention to what is going on in Kisauni. We are going to step in and we will clean up the area," stated Matiang'i in 2018 after four people were killed in the area.
Some residents argued that the gang members were mostly youth who are well known in the community.
Below is the video:
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