Mombasa: ‘Haipingwi’ gang members captured in viral video assaulting man arrested

Police in Mombasa are holding five suspected members of a notorious gang captured in a viral video while terrorising residents of Mombasa Old Town.

The five, Noordin Mohamed alias Mbavu nene, Brian Ogutu, Vidich Nzilu, Ahmed Ali and Abdala Mohamed alias Mbulo were arrested on Thursday in different areas of the coastal town.

In a video that went viral on April 19, a gang of 15 goons was captured on CCTV while roughing up and robbing two men in broad daylight.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) report on Friday, multi-agency teams deployed in the area smoked the thugs out of their hideouts.

“Following the incident, a contingent of officers drawn from Mombasa’s Central Police Station, backed up by DCI’s Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) detectives mounted an operation,” read the statement.

“Five of the thugs captured on the footage were arrested separately in Kibokoni, Kikowani and Makadara areas of Mombasa town.”

DCI sleuths have since established that the five belong to a recently formed notorious squad known as the ‘Haipingwi’ gang, that is said to be responsible for the upsurge of crime in the region.

As the investigative body calls on the other gang members to surrender, it has also declared a crackdown on the part of the town in a bid to restore peace in the area.

“The remaining thugs who are still at large have been warned to either surrender or suffer a similar fate as what befell Mathare’s infamous Katombi gang,” DCI stated.