NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 6 – Police are now investigating the existence of a hit squad in Nairobi following a spate of executions in recent months, the latest being the killing of a businessman on Forest Road on Thursday.
Detectives are specifically keen on five killings of businessmen under mysterious circumstances in various parts of the city.
Administration Police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi on Friday told Capital FM News that a team has been formed to track down the gunmen believed to involve former police officers.
“It is not necessarily that every crime that is committed using a fire arm involves an ex-police officer…we have officers who exit the service for one way or the other but they don’t necessarily go to crime,” he said.
“But where we have reason to believe that there are officers who are engaging themselves in crime particularly those who have left the police service, action is taken.”
He said a data base has been developed to track down all officers who exit the police service honourably or dishonourably.
“It’s not like we are infringing on their privacy…when you are a service person, the government has invested heavily on you and we would not want you to abuse that investment.”
That way, Mwinyi pointed out that, “when one or two (ex-officers) engage in crime, it will be very easy to pin point them.”
In Thursday’s incident, Paul Kariuki Ngugi was shot more than 10 times as he drove on Forest Road in the company of a woman.
The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was still unable to speak to the police as investigations continued.
Police are probing land deals as a possible link to the execution of the businessman.
Mwinyi says they will also increase police presence in strategic places in town as part of security measures following concerns that lack of police presence is to blame for such incidents.
He is however calling for the full participation of members of the public to help police officers discharge their mandate of restoring law and order.
“People must understand that investigations are holistic in nature and there is nothing insignificant…if the public have any information, they should provide to us and we shall act on it,” he said.
A detective who spoke on condition of anonymity also told Capital FM News that already police have mapped out specific areas where these criminal gangs may be operating from.
“They are referred to as ‘Aguthi’ (hit men)… very soon they will all be arrested, we are alert,” he said. “We will also not spare those who seek their ‘services’.”
Other incidences include last month’s killing of George Muchai who was the Kabete MP and his three aides along Kenyatta Avenue.
The four were sprayed with bullets at close range at about 4.30 am when their vehicle slowed down at the Nyayo House round about. Six suspects have since been arrested though police are yet to file charges against them.
A prominent businessman and land dealer in Ruai was also murdered on October 3, last year in broad daylight by unknown AK47 brandishing gunmen driving in two cars in a similar manner.
The same month, another property dealer was shot eight times along the Ruiru-Ruai by-pass by unidentified hit-men while in the company of his wife, child and a house-help.
The wife was injured but the kid and their aide escaped unhurt.
Days later, a real estate businessman based in Rongai was murdered in his house in presence of his wife and children near Olepolos in Ngong.
In majority of these cases, police says after preliminary investigations “it has always been established that there was a dispute before…mostly land disputes.”
-capitalfm.co.ke
