On Sunday, June 20, 2021, Easteigh businesswoman Hafsa Mohamed who had been kidnapped was found abandoned inside a house in Matopeni, Kayole.
The 23-year-old was kidnapped on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at her shoe shop in Eastleigh’s Kamukunji Trading Centre. Her kidnappers were demanding Kh5 million ransom.
Kayole is among the most insecure estates in Nairobi with crimes ranging from house break-ins to criminal activities organised by criminal gangs like Gaza and Mungiki. Gaza which was organised in the manner of infamous Jamaican criminal gang Gaza from Portmore, whose members stole and killed at will under the command of jailed Jamaican dancehall artiste Adjija Palmer aka Vybz Kartel, terrorized residents of Kayole for years. Many youths were gunned down or jailed as a result of being members of Gaza. Many, however, left the group to save their lives. Still there are talk that many are still silent members.
In November 2019, two policemen; Constable Joel Chesire and Constable Albert Abeere attached to Obama police post in Kayole, were shot and killed by unknown gunmen. The thugs stole an AK47 and a Jericho pistol as well as a police radio from the officers.
And just recently, in May 2021, a senior police officer in charge of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Embakasi was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a security guard in Nairobi’s Kayole area.
It is also in Kayole where many school girls have been reported missing, with many only returning home after a few weeks. Just last month, two girls from the same family went missing in Kayole. They returned home nearly two weeks later.
“I have lived in Kayole for over 20 years. I have seen boys grow, join school before dropping out. The next thing you hear there is a funeral contribution. The boys are dying because of criminal activities,” a parent who did not wish to be named told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
Known for child trafficking
Reports also indicate that Kayole is a breading ground for child traffickers. In a story published in 2015, USA Today reported about gangs who steal or buy infants from mothers who don’t want to keep the children.
It is also here, in Kayole, that kidnappers extract ransoms from families desperate to reclaim their little ones.
Children can fetch betweenKsh50,000 and Ksh80,000 depending on their gender, race and tribe, as shown in a BBC expose that aired recently about child kidnapping and trafficking.
Listed as a crime hot spot
Police have listed Kayole estate and the bordering Soweto slum as a crime hot spot.
The Region Security Research and Information Centre (SRIC) in a report declared Embakasi region, where Kayole falls, as crime hotspot. Kenyans are cautioned to exercise extreme precaution and be conscious and mindful of their personal safety and security, and never walk along these places unaccompanied especially at night.
According to a report compiled by the Nairobi Region Security Research and Information Centre (SRIC) Nairobi’s crime hot spots traverse five major areas in the city, most of them on the East land side,
The report indicates that most of the crimes at the crime hot sports are committed by, criminal masquerading as street urchins carrying guns.
The areas are: Kayole, Soweto-Embakasi Bridge, area opposite Jacaranda Estate, Highridge Teacher’ College playing ground, Gitari, Marigo, Laikipia, Kangundo road-railway line junction. All kinds of crime (Kidnapping, theft, armed robbery, trading in SALW, assault). The crime happen betwen 6pm – 5am and in broad daylight.