Kenyans have reacted with fury after a video was posted online showing unruly boda boda riders sexually assaulting a female motorist along Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi.
In the short clip, the woman can be heard screaming and crying while the boda boda riders try to forcefully remove her from the car.
The one-minute-seven-second-long video opens with the riders and some members of the public running towards the fear-stricken woman.
She can be heard screaming throughout the ordeal as the aggressors shout “mtoe nje, tutakua” (get her out, we will kill you) as they hit her car.
Some of the assailants then try to undress her as they shout “you are not going anywhere, zima gari (switch off the car)”.
Confirming the incident, the National Police Service spokesperson Bruno Shioso said the unfortunate incident happened last week on Friday on Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi.
People at the scene
He added that the police is already seized of the matter.
“The matter is under active investigations. We have since identified some of the perpetrators and they will be presented before a court of law upon completion of investigations,” he said.
“We are aware of the incident and our officers are seized of it. The incident happened last Friday on Wangari Maathai,” said Mr Shioso.
He said that the woman had been involved in an accident with a pedestrian leading to an exchange with people at the scene.
“I think she was a bit adamant and not being helpful and owning up. This infuriated most people, especially the boda boda riders but by good luck traffic police officers respondent in good time,” he said.
He added that the woman on Monday afternoon recorded a statement at Pangani police station regarding the accident she caused.
“We have spoken to the traffic department who are also handling it from their side,” said the spokesperson.
Mr Shioso said the police will launch an operation against unruly boda boda riders in Nairobi.
Just help out
“This culture of boda boda riders being unruly is getting out of hand and we will begin doing operation targeting such behaviours among them,” said Mr Shioso.
“We are warning boda boda operators and members of the public to desist from taking matters into their own hands. Just help out and wait for the police,” he added.
The Protective and Safety Association of Kenya (Prosak) has also condemned the incident calling for the arrest and prosecution of boda boda riders involved in the assault.
“We are calling for the arrest and prosecution of those seen in the video clearly breaking the law in this particular incident,” reads in part a statement by Prosak secretary-general Delano Kiilu Longwe.
“The incident has become a cause for alarm among the general public due to the lack of security within the country when it comes to disorderly and retaliatory behaviour of boda boda operators,” added the statement.
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