Nakuru police baffled by robbery victim who refused to press charges

About three weeks ago Nakuru East Sub county police commander Mohamed Wako accompanied a team that rescued a suspect from lynching in Bondeni area.

The suspect is said to have been in the company of four others who stabbed a member of the public in broad daylight, before forcefully snatching a mobile phone from him and fleeing.

He was however nabbed by members of the public with the help of bodaboda operators who descended on him with beatings and wanted to end his life.

Just as they were about to light a match box after dowsing him with petrol, the police arrived and rescued the man in his early twenties.

They locked him up in the cells as they assisted the victim to get treatment at hospital.

After being discharged from the hospital the police requested the victim to appear at the station to record a statement that would help them charge the suspect.

To their surprise, the victim only asked to be given back his phone, saying he had no interest in proceeding with the case.

“We tried to plead with him in vain to record the statement as he did not want any case,” says Mr Wako.

With the key witness declining to be part of the case, the Police knew the charge of robbery with violence would not pass the director of prosecutions threshold.

“We had to release the suspect without any charge which was a slap on our face. We even regretted why we had intervened in the first place since the same criminal will go back to the society and continue with his robberies, thus putting his life at risk again,” says Mr Wako.

The sub county Police boss was speaking during a peace forum organised by the Midrift Human Rights Network through its Re-Invent program.

The program is carrying out a project on Police accountability and customer centred Service Delivery.

The program Coordinator Calvin Muga, says the project aims at enhancing collaboration and coordination between different players in dealing with safety and security concerns sustainably.

Highlighting the challenges facing security officers in dealing with crime, Mr Wako says there is need for cooperation between the community and the police in order to win the fight against crime.

“My humble appeal is to all the members of the public to be ready to collaborate with the police in enforcing the rule of law. We should not allow these criminals to walk scot-free simply because you do not want a case,” says Mr Wako.

Some of the crimes in which members of the public do not want to get to court include phone snatching, muggings and theft which are common in the areas of Bondeni, Kivumbini and parts of the town.