As the country heads to the festive season, Nairobi is one of the cities that are full of packed events for thrift-loving Kenyans. While many would expect concerts to be the most joy fulfilling places to be, this is not always the case.
In a detailed thread on Twitter, on Saturday, November 13, Kenyans recounted how they have been faced with the most chilling incidents of mugging at concerts held in the capital.
From losing valuables such as money, phones, accessories, and clothes, Kenyans narrated how they came face to face with heartless groups of well-organised gangs.
One Twitter user by the name, Gladys Warindi, narrated how she lost all her valuables at a past concert as she was looking for her friend. She revealed that the gangs isolate their victims before pouncing on them.
“We were a group of people walking up and there was a group of guys walking down the stairs, I thought nothing of it, just regular concert-goers moving around. Shock on us! This group coming down started stealing from us,”
“I was still on call with the person I was meeting so that was the first thing they went for. At some point, I was confident that I would save my handbag until an accomplice who was with us came through with a razor and cut the handbag strap. The rest as they say is history,” she narrated.
Some of the online users did not shy away from exposing how some of the incidents took place in the most secure locations such as the VIP section.
"These people buy tickets so that they can steal from others. Some of them are armed with guns and knives, even police are scared and they can't do anything," Okello Dennis recounted.
While many would think that event organisers are excluded as targets from the gangs, that is not the case as some of them disclosed how they lost some of their high-end equipment at the events.
"We once lost so many event supplies at an overnight event. Among them were a TV, lights and red carpets. This happened between the hours of 6 AM and 7 AM after night security left. We now insist on our security for our equipment," a Twitter user by the name Kagwira K narrated.
Additionally, there are those who expressed that the incidents were disheartening that they have vowed never to attend concerts in their lives.
Further, a majority of the social media users laid the blame squarely on event organisers for the state on insecurity at their concerts.
“Spend more on security. Prioritize the safety of concert-goers and they will reward you by showing at every event you organise,” Boniface Mwangi advised.
In response, one event organiser revealed how costly it was to provide sufficient security during the concerts.
"As part of a mega-event organising team, we tried recruiting a top-notch security consultant for our annual gig. He is excellent at his job and does it for some big brands in the region. His quote was Ksh3 million the least costly effort. We paid the local OCS 200K and got 200 cops," Keyser Soze revealed.
From the thread, it was also noted that most of the experiences occurred as people prepared to go back to their homes, with the most notorious locations identified as Ngong Racecourse, Nyayo Stadium, Kasarani Stadium, and KICC.
