Motorbike bodaboda operators in Molo and its environs have called on police in the area to intensify night patrols saying that there were gangs terrorising them at night.
Led by their chairperson Mr Elias Mwangi, the operators threatened to withdraw their services, fearing for their lives.
“Some of us have customers who come from their work places late in the night and we cannot let them down but insecurity has really become a concern,” he said.
They gave an example of a recent case where one of them was attacked by a gang, brutally beaten before they stole his motorbike after dropping a customer.
“What confuses us is why the police patrol only from 8-10pm when security is not that bad, things get worse from 12 midnight,” he explained.
The operators accused police on patrol of only concentrating on harassing them but not carrying out their mandate of providing security.
They said that once in a while, the officers used to mount impromptu roadblocks where other than checking people in vehicle a majority of whom perpetuate the criminal activities, they resorted to asking for bribes from innocent motorbike operators.
“You must part with at least Sh50 to be allowed past the roadblock, failure to which you will be threatened and even arrested over false accusations,” Mwangi claimed.
Area OCPD Richard Masinde downplayed the allegations, saying that the operators were stealing from each other.
“They are the people being used to facilitate criminal activities due to business competition, in fact nobody is supposed to operate past 10:30pm,” he said when contacted on phone.
He further advised them to ensure they carry only people they know at night and to go to areas not very far from town for security purposes.