The most wanted suspect in the case where a female motorist was assaulted by bodaboda riders on Forest Road has been arrested while trying to flee the country.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) the suspect, Zachariah Nyaora Obadia, was arrested on Monday, March 14, at the Kenya-Tanzania border in Sirare as he tried to sneak out of the country through illegal routes.
He was immediately airlifted to Nairobi where he is expected to be processed before being charged in a court of law.
"Sleuths from the elite Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau augmented by a section of detectives from Nairobi DCI Regional command, pounced on him as he tried to cross the border to Tanzania through a panya route," the statement read in part.
The suspect had previously a dragnet who has been on the run since last week escaped DCI's dragnet in Mukuru Kaiyaba, through a sewer duct. He has been engaging detectives in hide and seek games until his arrest on Monday.
DCI detectives traced the suspect using digital forensics with the aid of cybercrime experts at the agency's National Forensic Laboratory. Nyaora has been airlifted to Nairobi, where he is expected to be charged in accordance with the law.
The incident in which the woman was ambushed and manhandled by a mob of bodaboda riders was ambushed after being involved in a traffic accident with a rider sparked uproar after a recording of the incident went viral.
President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered a national crackdown on rogue motorcycle riders across the country.Uhuru further called for reforms in the sector, including the fresh registration of riders across the country.
"A boda boda is not a licence to strip a woman and remove her dignity. There should never be a repeat of what happened on Friday. This is a blight on the whole Kenyan society," the President remarked.
"We want to support the bodaboda business but our efforts should not make them believe that they can do drive-by shootings. We will re-register all riders. Those who want to politicise this let them go ahead and do that," he added.
His comments were reiterated by Interior Cabinet Secretary who termed the operation as painful but necessary. Notably, the government announced that it would waiver the Ksh5,000 fees required for enrolment under the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) system.
However, on Saturday, March 12 the National Police Service (NPS) declared that it had stopped the ongoing implementation of the directive given by the Head of State, noting that the operation would only continue in the Nairobi's Central Business District.
