Elders in Teachers estate in Nakuru have threatened to support the lynching of crime suspects in the area if police continue letting them "get away with crime". Paul Ogega, a member of the Teachers Council of Elders who is in charge of security matters, sounded a stern warning to criminals in the area to change their ways or face the wrath of society, noting that residents were tired of living in fear as criminals have a field day. “We know them. They are part of us. In fact, some are our sons and daughters, but we will not tolerate them anymore. We are telling parents and relatives of these young people to warn them because enough is enough,” he said on Friday afternoon after chairing a security meeting. According to the elders, local police have failed to prevent crime as they release criminal suspects after relatives or accomplices bail them out of custody. Ogega added that the council had complained to Nakuru police boss Ben Kioko about the manner in which the police were handling crime in the area. “That resulted to a transfer of several police officers at the Teachers Police post,” he said. The elders said police have on several occasions refused to respond to distress calls about robbery and other criminal incidences in the estate. They complained that the officers take long to arrive or don’t come at all. “We believe that criminal activities in the area are masterminded from within,” Ogega stated. Last week, a suspect who had allegedly snatched a Sh1000 note from a minor escaped death narrowly after a local pastor pleaded with a mob that wanted to lynch him. The elders are now questioning how the suspect was released from police custody.

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