A three-man machete-welding gang was nabbed by police based at Pangani police station after they fled into a Redeemed church in Mathare where they were seeking solace.
Reporting the incident on Thursday, December 22, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI) stated that the gang was fleeing after they ambushed them following an attack on a woman along Muratina road in Mathare, Nairobi County.
One of the thugs was fatally wounded after he turned to the officers during the chase and tried to attack them with a machete.
“He turned back and attacked the corporal leading the chase with a machete, missing his jugular vein by a whisker!
In a swift rejoinder, the officer opened fire fatally wounding the suspect,” DCI reported.
Sensing defeat, the remaining members of the gang dropped their weapons and ran towards the church where they sought refuge.
“The determined officers aborted their mission and gave the thugs hiding behind the pulpit a second lease of life to preach the good gospel and become productive members of the society,” the detective report stated.
Upon the arrest, Ksh12,308, three machetes, daggers, two swords and other crude weapons used by the thugs to terrorize innocent members of the public were recovered.
The fallen thug’s body was moved to the City mortuary pending identification and postmortem.
This was reported at a time when the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki is fighting hard to curb insecurity, especially during the festive season.
On November 11, Security and risk management experts, SF Group warned the residents of Nairobi and its environs to stay vigilant due to the rise in criminal activities in the city as we approach the festive season.
They stated that opportunist crimes were likely to spike as we head into the festive season when Kenyans would be preoccupied with the festivities.
