A resident close down a facility that is reportedly being used by muggers. Photo/AustinNjenga
Residents of Shabab in Nakuru have protested the insecurity rate in the area.
This has been attributed to drugs use.
On Sunday evening, a man was stabbed by an unknown gang near Shabab grounds and robbed of Sh11000 and a mobile phone at around nine o’clock at night.
This was only a few minutes after another man was robbed by a different gang while on his way to the local kiosk.
Area residents are now accusing area MCA Daniel Kamau of allowing drug peddlers and criminals to operate freely in the area.
They pointed out the spot near Happy Church as the main base for the trafficking of the drugs
“They are well known. It is not shocking to pass by the area in the middle of the day and see youth smoking bhang in the open. There are so many kiosks operating there which sell khat (Muguka) and cigarettes even to very young kids,” said Steve Gitukia, the chairman of Bonanza Shabe.Gitukia pointed out that there has also been increased cases of rape and sexual harassment to ladies living around the youth center.
“Recently they gang raped a girl in the afternoon and left her for the dead. Luckily she was rescued and rushed to hospital,” he added.
They threatened to collect signatures in the area seeking the removal of the MCA if nothing is done to curb the insecurity.
“Shabab used to be one of the safe areas and it’s a shame that we cannot leave our houses at eight o’clock for fear of being killed,” said Petrolina Njeri.
David Wathiai claimed that the gangs would climb on top of the toilets to watch out for any police patrol cars in the night in case they intended to carry out attacks.
“It was one of their safest spot and it’s unfortunate that what was meant to benefit the youth ended up creating drug addicts,” he added.
The irate residents threatened to pull down the walls surrounding the grounds citing that criminal gangs were taking advantage to hide there.
Area MCA Daniel Kamau, when contacted, promised to look into the issue.
“We will resolve the issue and look into how we can boost security in the place,” he added.