Nairobi: Thugs increasingly targeting travellers heading upcountry

Nairobians heading upcountry are increasingly being targeted by thieves prowling the downtown areas around Muthurwa market, OTC, Landhies road, River road and the Haile Selassie Avenue.

The thieves often target people coming from the estates, and rushing to board buses either at the Machakos Bus Station, or the other two high-profile bus stations along Haile Selassie Avenue, near Wakulima market and Nairobi Railways Station.

Joel Awandu, a resident of Nairobi, told Wananchi Reporting that he recently nearly got robbed around Wakulima market, at night, while hurrying to catch a bus to the village. 

He had just disembarked from a matatu when the incident happened, around 7:30pm.

“I saw this young man suddenly emerge from a group of people by the roadside, and he began walking right in front of me, slowly.”

“Then, he turned and spoke, as if in a coded language, to another individual, also a man. I had taken good notice of the environment, and could tell that they were up to no good,” says Awandu who kept walking.

Awandu says he had in his right hand a small leather travelling bag, and a carton, and wore spectacles, a good candidate for any thief.

“The man in front of me suddenly turned back; half-walking and half-facing me, and asked why I was staring at him.”

“He said something like ‘Wewe macho-nnem mbona unaniangalia hivyo. Unataka nini, wewe...” And the rubming went on...

Awandu says he could tell that the man was trying hard to provoke him into a violent engagement, like a fight, but he kept his cool head.

“I walked passed him quietly, ignoring him. Then, he tried to trip me, twice from behind, but I kept walking. I finally branched and walked into the bus stop, and that’s when he turned back, and melted into the crowd,” says Awandu – adding that the incident left him shaking in his boots.

Julia Nanjala, also a resident of Nairobi, had a near similar experience two months ago while travelling to her home village in Western.

Julia was travelling with her three children and a house help, when two people tried to rob her.

“They tried to take advantage of the confusion at the Machakos Bus Station to rob me, and the fact that I had three young children, and some luggage,” she told Wananchi Reporting.

Peter Otieno, a tout at the Machakos Bus Station, told Wananchi Reporting that many theft cases have been reported at the various up-country bus stations. Many often go unreported.

“Some people come here masquerading as touts or bus conductors, yet they are thieves looking to rob travellers,” says Otieno, adding that one should not be too trusting at the bus station.

He urged travellers to be careful, and to always mind their luggage, and engagement with people they meet in and around the bus stations, unless they are properly uniformed, and have work budges to identify them as bus officials or operators.