NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 22- Hundreds of Kenyans have fallen victim to rising crime including armed robbery in Nairobi, with some taking to social media platforms to narrate their ordeal.
Unfortunately, some have lost their lives during the incidents, becoming statistics in a growing and worrying trend.
But despite the incidents, many people according to police, have not been reporting the incidents for action.
Some of the victims who spoke to Shahidi News said they were not reporting for fear of revenge attacks while others simply said they were certain no action would be taken.
“We’ve seen some police officers implicated in crime. There’s no need of reporting of exposing yourself,” a victim who sought anonymity and was recently robbed off her belongings right at Central Business District in a daytime incident said.
“I was horrified but at no point did I think of reporting to police.”
But in a renewed appeal, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations is calling on victims who have been attacked and robbed in the city to always report to authorities.
The DCI said many victims of the attacks are reporting on social media instead of making formal reports to police as a way of ensuring justice and recovery.
This is because many of the arrested muggers, the DCI said, usually go scot free as the few who report at the station fail to pursue their cases or never turn up for hearings.
“The DCI urges members of the public who may fall or have fallen victims of mugging within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) to make formal reports at the Nairobi Central DCI offices whenever such unfortunate incidences happen,” the DCI said in a Tweet.
“Many are scenarios when suspected muggers go scot free even after they have been arrested along various Streets and Walks within the CBD, as the few who report at the station fail to pursue their cases or never turn up for hearings.We remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of every citizen, while subjecting any acts of criminality to the unforgiving arm of the law.”
There has been a surge of mugging, kidnapping and robbery incidents in the city .
The rising crime has been attributed to an economic meltdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first case of the disease was reported in March, 2020, starting a series of stringent preventive measures, some of which instantly rendered millions jobless, and more so in the hotel and entertainment sector.
About 1.72 million workers lost jobs in three months to June in 2020, when Kenya imposed a lockdown that led to layoffs and pay cuts.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) sais the number of people in employment fell to 15.87 million between April and end of June 2020 compared to 17.59 million the previous quarter.
Young people were the hardest hit by job cuts compared to their counterparts aged above 35 years in an economic setting that is plagued by a hiring freeze on the back of sluggish corporate earnings.
The situation has worsened over time, despite efforts by the government to salvage the situation.
Some 14 Counties among them Kisumu and Siaya are currently on lockdown due to increased cases of infections.
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