On 21 November 2018, police in Nairobi released photos of three men they believe are behind a wave of daytime muggings in the city centre. The officers said the suspects target people who have just withdrawn money from banks and ATMs.
According to the police, the group is led by Godfrey Sangare Ambani. They said Ambani was arrested on October 19 after CCTV captured him robbing a man moments after he left a bank, but he was later released on cash bail.
The police added that no mugging incidents were reported while Ambani was in custody, and that the attacks resumed soon after his release. They urged members of the public to alert officers immediately if they spot him or are robbed on the streets.
The warning came against the backdrop of an earlier crackdown in January 2018, when Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko formed an anti-mugging squad after a rise in daytime street robberies. At the time, county security officials identified Temple and Hakati roads, Moi and Haile Selassie Avenues, OTC-Racecourse Road, Uyoma Road near St Peter’s Clevers Church, and the junction of Ronald Ngala and Racecourse roads towards River Road as hotspots.
Authorities said the thieves were not only stealing phones, watches, laptops, handbags, spectacles, earrings and chains, but were also injuring victims during the attacks. The violence and frequency of the robberies later triggered a crackdown that led to the banning of boda bodas from inside the CBD.
City Inspectorate director of operations Peter Mbaya said the riders were being used as getaway transport after the crimes. Sonko later claimed the youths behind the muggings had been hired by his political rivals in an effort to make him look like a failure.
Related reports at the time also noted the wider security response, including arrests tied to CBD robberies and the City Hall operation against rogue boda bodas.
