The police in Machakos are investigating an attempted robbery at the Delta Petrol Station near Nguluni Market in Matungulu sub-county. Five men wearing police regalia attacked the filling station, and the incident was captured on CCTV. The robbers came with a person claiming to have been beaten by the staff at the filling station, pretending they were doing a follow-up. They then forced the attendants and the watchman to lie down inside the office before tying and locking them up inside a men’s toilet.
According to a customer service attendant, three of the men arrived at around 2 am wearing police uniforms and entered the office, where their other colleague was waiting. They asked the attendant whether he was the one who beat the man, and he denied it. The trio proceeded with the same question to the security guard and other attendants who also denied it and were ransacked before being tied and locked up in the washrooms.
While still locked up, the workers heard “a sound of metal hitting the wall as if someone was trying to break into the safe through the wall.” The men were trying to break into a safe to steal, but their attempts were futile.
The Machakos Police Commander Joseph Ole Napeiyan confirmed the incident and said that a bodaboda rider who had gone to fuel but was not attended to filed a report at Nguluni Police Post, and the officers responded and came to the rescue of the workers. He said nothing was stolen since the robbers did not manage to break into the safe, but they had launched a probe into the matter.
Napeiyan, however, noted that people have uniforms close to police regalia, and it should not be proof that they are officers. He added that they have treated the case as an attempted robbery and an inquiry had been opened into the same.
CCTV footage obtained from the management showed how the robbers orchestrated the whole operation as they tried to dig through the wall but could not manage it and later left disappointed.
