Police in Naivasha, Nakuru County, are holding in custody five suspects over a series of robberies, kidnappings, and sexual assault-related crimes targeting motorists around the country.

In an operation that took about two weeks before it could bear fruits, a break-in incident by five suspects at Mirera Estate in Naivasha that was reported on Valentine’s Day linked the assailants to previous robberies and other crimes meted on different motorists.

According to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Friday, the operations started following a report filed by Nelly Cherop Kosgei after the said five-men gang broke into her house while armed with crude weapons, accosted her and her family before making away with valuables and her vehicle.

“The victim reported that she was at her house with her two kids and the house help, when five men, four of whom were dressed in jungle uniforms, stormed into the house while armed with crude weapons,” stated the DCI.

“After subduing the family with threats to kill if they raised alarm, they ransacked the house for valuables before disappearing with two TV sets, two laptops, a JBL sound bar and four mobile phones. The gang had then loaded the valuables in the complainant’s Nissan Dualis Reg. No. KDC 302V and sped off.”

In the attack that took place from around 9pm to around 2am, no one was physically harmed.

The DCI, through the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB), took over the search with the help of the Operations Action Team (OAT) and nabbed the first suspect - Joseph Ndung’u Waweru – at Kiamunyeki area with the stolen vehicle.

“In his possession was a black Nissan Dualis fitted with plates Reg. No. KDE 074Q. On verifying the chassis and engine numbers of the vehicle, it was discovered to have been registered under the name of Nelly Cherop Kosgei, and that the fitted plates belonged to a lorry,” DCI noted.

A thorough search by the sleuths recovered assorted items including “six SIM cards, a pair of jungle green trousers, pliers, 14 steel tyre nuts, aerosol paint spray, a brown folded carton for carrying extra car registration plates and foreign currencies including South African rand, Mauritius rupees and Uganda shillings” which tied him to the Valentine’s Day crime.

DCI says that Waweru’s arrest would later lead to the apprehension of his accomplices among them Evans Mwangi Njenga, 45 and Geoffrey Kamau Hinga, 53 who were cornered onboard a stolen Mitsubishi FH truck en route to Njoro town which was concealed using fake number plates registered to a bus.

“Upon intercepting the vehicle reg. No. KCB 383Z, Evans Mwangi Njenga, 45 and Geoffrey Kamau Hinga, 53 were nabbed, where on searching the truck another pair of Reg. no. plates (KCK 616G) were discovered. A verification of the discovered plates revealed that they belonged to a bus,” read the statement. 

The pair likewise exposed two other acquaintances Peter Mahinyo Wanyoike, 45 and Julius Gichagu Wanguno, 32 whom they said were supposed to meet them in Njoro in order to facilitate changing of the truck’s registration plates before the vehicle was escorted to cross the Kenya - Uganda border.

DCI says a further probe later revealed that the lorry intercepted was stolen from a driver that the gang had hired to offer transport services, and whom they robbed and sodomised.

“The FH lorry they had intercepted had been reported robbed from a victim at Elementaita Police Station in Gilgil when the gang turned against the driver they had hired to offer transport services,” stated the investigative agency.

“The 38-year-old driver had been robbed, sexually molested and left tied up at Punda Milia section on February 23 by a 6-man gang, who then disabled the vehicle’s tracker and disappeared.”

A manhunt for the sixth suspect has since been launched.