Armed thugs hijack matatu, passengers asked to request Mshwari loans before being robbed

Tony Mukere

January 30, 2019 3:32 PM

Daring robbery

Armed thugs hijack matatu, passengers asked to request Mshwari loans before being robbed

A Transline matatu van plying the Kisii-Nairobi route was on Wednesday morning hijacked by armed robbers who went on to rob the passengers for a total of three hours.

According to Gladys Moraa, one of the passengers who spoke to Pulselive.co.ke, trouble started when a passenger sought to be dropped off at Zambezi Resort.

As the driver was about to open the luggage cabin for the passenger, armed thugs ambushed him and held him hostage as he drove to the thicket near Mai Mahiu town.

Forced to lie on the ground

It was at the thicket that they realized that the passenger, a woman, was also in cahoots with the thieves.

“They told us to lie on the ground and robbed us all our money and other belongings. They went as far as telling us to send us money on their Mpesa number. After that, they forced us to request for Mshwari (a mobile money loan service) before collecting all our phones in a basket,” Moraa said of the incident.

The incident went on for about three hours before the hostages were let free without any of them being hurt.

The matter has since been recorded at the Mai Mahiu police station.

Tony Mukere