Community accuses police of harassment after robbery

TENSION between the 5-Mile community and the police is rising after the wife of a senior police officer had her handbag snatched at the Erima traffic lights on Wednesday.
The community has alleged that an unmarked car with civilians and cops armed with high-powered guns arrived soon after and demanded the return of the handbag and its contents, and the surrender of the snatch thieves.
The next day, a house belonging to one of the suspected snatch thieves was razed, stores were ransacked, and markets were destroyed.
On Friday night, the community retaliated by throwing stones at the vehicle of the assailants.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Backley Dama said: “We were told to help return the handbag containing a handphone, K2,500, visa card, passport, school fee receipts and other important documents.
“People were harassed, chased and abused while they demanded to surrender the suspected snatch thieves and the stolen properties.
“The police are supposed to protect us, not attack or harass. When they do that, it makes us wonder where this country is heading into.
“No one is above the law, not even the police. Attacking us is inhumane and wrong,” he added.
Dama said: “Bag snatching is happening everywhere. But this seems to be a special case as we were attacked for three days and two nights.
“After handing in the suspects, we were still abused and told to find that mobile phone.
“We worked to find the suspects but since the attack continued till Friday night, we retaliated and fought back by throwing stones at the vehicle.
Another community leader Paul Temai said all market activities had stopped with families who relied on the informal sector suffering.
“The community has contributed money to compensate the woman whose bag was snatched,” he added.
National Capital District Metropolitan Supt Perou N’dranou said he was aware of the incidents and was not pleased that the wife of a senior policeman who served the country got attacked.
“The community should not hide criminals. They should work with police to bring in the criminals.
“The city should be a safe place for people to go move around. If people comply with the laws, hand over the criminals then they would work together to create a safe environment.
“Manpower is limited, so police cannot be everywhere to prevent crime.”
He said police officers who used their power to attack civilians should be labelled as criminals.
“We will look into the allegations.”