Police have launched a three months operation on Thika Superhighway targeting armed robbers pouncing on motorists and traders.
According to law enforcement officers, the assailants have been staging violent attacks, especially at night on the 50-kilometre road stretching from Nairobi to sections of Thika.
Speaking on Thursday, August 25, Thika West Deputy Commissioner Mbogo Mathioya added that the attackers had also robbed several traders based on that 8-laned highway.
Some pedestrians had also raised concerns over using some sections of the highway marked as black spots.
Following a series of complaints, Mbogo announced a 90-day operation to flush out the gangs.
"We are now going to dedicate all our resources to this road. We have come together as Kiambu and Murang'a counties to eliminate this menace and we have already started posting real results," Mbogo reiterated.
"We are going to clean this road of the highway gangs. The fight is on. After Thika West colleagues seal the town from being used as an operation base, my teams will ensure the gangs do not use the Gatanga stretch as their escape route," Gatanga sub-county police boss Peter Muchemi added.
According to police bosses in the affected areas, more than six suspects have been apprehended, and a pistol recovered. The gangs mostly made of teenagers, move in organised groups of seven.
The gangs pose as beggars and some as traffic marshalls to disrupt unsuspecting drivers before attacking them.
"The gang has been very devastating on our end, because it has even murdered revellers in the Mutoho area. We cannot wait to make them our game," the police boss stated.
This form of organised highway robbery was rampant in parts of Nairobi. Operation organised by city cops flushed out some of the gangs in Ngara and Jogoo Road.
Others were posing as passengers before diverting vehicles and robbing commuters.
