A boda boda rider and his accomplice were on Monday, May 2, arrested after they attempted to violently rob an armed plain-clothed police officer who was on his way home from work.
According to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the officer based at the Kiambu Police Station was attacked by the rider and a second passenger turned accomplice that they had picked along the way.
Corporal Mungai took the bodaboda in the vicinity of the station and asked the rider to drop him at GG village in Thindigua. On their way, Mungai offered a ride to a man who pretended to be in distress.
"Upon arrival, the rider and a man turned against him with heavy blows and kicks demanding money and other valuables," read the statement in part.
Amid the vicious assault, the officer who was visibly outnumbered managed to reach out for his pistol, which was tucked around his waist and brandished it at his attackers. He asked the thugs to surrender - an order they blatantly defied.
In a daring move, they quickly got onto the motorcycle in a bid to flee the officer. A second call by the corporal was ignored, forcing him to pull the trigger on the runaways. It helped that the cop was a good marksman as he quickly fired at the motorcycle tyre and got his shot.
"The thugs attempted to escape prompting Mungai to open fire, deflating the bike's front tyre in a single shot. He immobilised the motorbike, leaving the thugs without any option but to surrender," the DCI wrote.
Mungai held the two as he called for backup from his colleagues at the Thindigua police post. The suspects have been taken into police custody and will be charged in court.
The incident comes amid a spike in insecurity cases involving bodaboda operators who have on numerous occasions been accused of conducting armed robbery and robbery with violence with the help of pillion passengers.
Goons have flooded the two-wheeler transport industry in recent years since it was adopted as a means of public transport. Notably, operators have been earmarked for causing trouble even to other motorists on the road.
In March, an attack on a foreign diplomat by riders along Forest Road after she was involved in a traffic accident with one of them, caused a public uproar, leading to a nationwide crackdown on operators.
Furthermore, it led to much-needed reforms in the sector, with Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i calling for a fresh registration of riders across the country.
