This archive report was first published on 27 October 2019.
On Saturday, October 26, 2019, a police officer attached to the Anti-Mugging squad was on foot patrol in Nairobi's Globe Cinema area when he was attacked by men riding on two motorcycles at around 9pm.
The thugs robbed the officer of his Jericho pistol, which had 15 bullets, and left him with injuries to his head and knees. He was taken to a hospital along Juja Road for treatment.
Nairobi police boss Philip Ndolo confirmed that the police are looking for the gang behind the incident, which is part of a growing trend of police officers losing their weapons in the country.
According to Ndolo, cases of officers losing their guns are fluctuating, and the weapons are often used to commit crimes. In a separate incident, a police officer attached to Machakos County Woman Representative Joyce Kamene was arrested last week for losing her loaded firearm.
However, the officer's story took a surprising turn when the missing pistol was found in a supermarket along Kenyatta Avenue, wrapped in a paper with all six bullets intact.
Meanwhile, a gang of four was being pursued by police in Jericho estate, Nairobi, when they dropped a loaded Ceska pistol with 12 bullets before vanishing into darkness.