• Unlike in other reported cases where boda boda riders have aided thugs in getting away from scenes of crime, the script was different as the riders offered police officers lifts on their motorbikes to pursue the fleeing thugs.
• The gang was escaping in a white Toyota Probox after staging a robbery at Mabati Millers in Nyamasaria.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Boda boda riders in Kisumu's Nyamasaria area have won the admiration of locals and law enforcers after they helped police in arresting fleeing robbery suspects on Saturday.
The chase resulted in the arrest of one suspect.
The thug, who is now nursing gunshot wounds under armed guard at a Kisumu hospital, was part of a five-man gang that had staged an armed robbery at an iron sheet factory in the area.
Unlike in other reported cases where boda boda riders have aided thugs in getting away from scenes of crime, the script was different as the riders offered police officers lifts on their motorbikes to pursue the fleeing thugs.
DCI boss, George Kinoti, narrated in a series of tweets on Sunday how the spectacle played out.
He said the gang was escaping in a white Toyota Probox after staging a robbery at Mabati Millers in Nyamasaria.
"They ordered everyone to lie down before ransacking their pockets for mobile phones, cash and other valuables," he said.
The thugs also took away a cash box containing unknown amount of money, Kinoti added.
"As the thugs staged their escape minutes later, two officers arrived at the scene on foot.
They tried to flag down the Toyota Probox ferrying the five thugs but the vehicle sped past the officers leaving a thick cloud of dust," Kinoti said.
In the ensuing melee, boda boda riders who had witnessed the incident from the periphery, rushed to the scene and beckoned the officers to hike a lift on their bikes.
“Omera idh apiko walaw jokuogegi,” they beckoned the officers in unison. (Let’s chase after them.)
Kinoti said the riders were determined as they raved their bikes noisily ready for take off.
Torn between dissuading them from following the thugs due to the dangers involved and turning down the offer, the officers reluctantly chose the latter.
Kinoti said two police officers, under the command of Senior sergeant Kennedy Saina - the officer commanding Nyamasaria Patrol base -jumped on the raving motorbikes.
"Seconds later, three motorbikes chasing after the Probox vroomed onomatopoeically past Nyamasaria, towards Rabuor, as Senior Saina and his two officers stood on the foot rest of their bikes and launched a volley of fire from their firearms, that deflated the vehicle’s rear tyres," Kinoti said.
He said the gunfire did not, however, persuade the determined driver from stopping the ill fated vehicle. He drove on past Mowlem towards Ragumo road.
"On reaching Oyola junction, the vehicle suddenly stopped and the thugs dashed to the thickets surrounding Oyola village, as Senior Saina and his men relaunched their onslaught against the fleeing thugs from a safe distance," Kinoti said.
Hours later, detectives got wind that a man hiding under a tree near Oyola junction was clandestinely seeking treatment for multiple gunshot injuries on his back.
"The man identified as Peter Ochieng who was positively identified as one of the thugs is currently receiving treatment under tight security at a hospital in Kisumu," Kinoti said.
He confirmed that non of the boda boda riders was injured during the chase.
"It is the courage exhibited by the nduthi men from the port city oblivious of the dangers that they were exposing themselves to, that won the admiration of Senior Sergeant Saina, an old guard who has served with distinction in different capacities," Kinoti said.
Five mobile phones, an empty cash box and vehicle plate number KCE 942 E were recovered from the vehicle.
The abandoned vehicle was impounded and one home made pistol capable of firing was recovered.
Kinoti said a manhunt for the remaining suspects is currently ongoing and detectives are urging anyone with information to report to the nearest police station or call hotline number 0800 722 203.