Police in Kitale were forced to fire at a crowd after a recovery mission by a team from a Mogo Credit microfinance institution turned chaotic.
In a report by the DCI, the team had been dispersed to repossess a motorbike from a loan defaulter but his colleagues made it difficult for them to access the motorbike attracting the attention of police officers.
“What began as a scuffle degenerated into full-scale chaos, as angry Boda Boda riders engaged police and officials from Mogo Credit in running battles, bringing business in the busy agricultural town to a standstill, albeit for some minutes,” the statement read in parts.
It is reported that the fracas began when one of the team members identified as Barasa Simiyu approached Lesos Stage in an attempt to forcefully recover one motorbike registration number KMFX 046E, from its rider.
At the time, the rider was among other riders who overpowered the microfinance staff.
“Trouble started when the team from Mogo microfinance led by Barasa Simiyu approached Lesos Stage and attempted to forcefully recover one motorbike registration number KMFX 046E, from its rider.
“The defaulter was amongst a group of Boda Boda men who were eagerly waiting for the hard-to-find passenger who would occasionally hail a bike to run their errands. But no sooner had Simiyu and team struck and attempted to grab the bike’s ignition keys from the defaulting rider, than they were met with resistance from the rest of the riders,” DCI stated.
Adding;
“A brief push-and-shove altercation ensued before an avalanche of blows and kicks started flying from different directions, as the boda-boda riders defended one of their own from having his bike repossessed.”
Officers drawn from the Veterinary patrol base were forced to intervene and bring order which resulted in two officers getting injured.
“The commotion attracted the attention of Police officers based at the Veterinary patrol base who immediately responded and tried to calm the situation. But they were met with resistance from the unrelenting nduthi-men who pelted them with stones, forcing the officers to fire two rounds in the air to disperse them. Two officers sustained injuries as they tried to calm the situation,” the statement stated.
MISSION TO RECOVER MOTORBIKE FROM LOAN DEFAULTER FACES RESISTANCE AS BODA BODA RIDERS COME TO THE AID OF THEIR OWN
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) November 8, 2022
Police had a difficult time this morning after they tried to contain irate Boda Boda riders in Kitale town, who had attacked a team from a microfinance institution pic.twitter.com/JgSy8lnXTV
