Kilimani OCPD Moss Ndiwa on Thursday announced the arrest of two notorious phone snatchers in the area following numerous complaints from residents.
The police officers recovered 200 phones and several computers during the bust. The police boss called on any Kenyan who might have lost their phone to report to the Kilimani Police Station to check if theirs was part of the recovered set.
"We appeal to members of the public who have been victims of phone snatching to come to Kilimani Police Station and see if they can find their phones," he stated.
Ndiwa assured Kenyans that during this festive season, police officers were on the lookout for robbers and thugs who have been terrorising Kenyans.
He further assured Nairobi residents that all the stolen phones will be returned to their rightful owners. The OCPD also issued a stern warning to Kenyans engaging in the criminal activity.
Besides the devices, police officers also seized a boda boda used by the culprits to steal from unsuspecting Kenyans.
Phone snatchers in the city have made the boda boda their official getaway mode of transportation making it hard for the victim to chase after them especially on poor roads and in the middle of traffic snarl-ups.
In the recent past, several boda boda riders have been arrested after being linked to phone-snatching syndicates prompting police officers to swoop in and arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.
To highlight the prevalence of this particular type of crime, in June thugs riding in a motorcycle were captured by CCTV cameras snatching a purse from a foreigner along Ngong Road. The footage showed them lurking behind the foreign national before swiftly grabbing the bag and making a quick escape on a boda boda
This incident triggered widespread concern, prompting Kenyans to demand stricter regulations within the boda boda sector to identify and eliminate criminals posing as legitimate riders.
In September, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale tabled the Public Transport (Motorcycle Regulation) Bill, 2023 to bring sanity to the transport sector, a piece of legislation that was widely seen as targeting boda bodas and tuk-tuks which have been accused of breeding transit insanity in the past.
The bill proposed that riders should not knowingly transport anyone intending to commit a crime.
Khalwale's bill proposed a Ksh20,000 fine or 6 months of jail time for those found to violate the proposed law.
