A man who was robbed of Sh320,000 he had withdrawn from a bank in Nairobi, prompting a dramatic chase by boda boda operators, says he may have been “confused by ghosts”.
Fredric Otieno, 30, said he suspects those behind the incident sprayed chemicals onto his face as they confronted him outside the bank.
“I think they sprayed something that confused me. I can’t explain what happened and how I did it but I know they robbed me of my money that I wanted to pay my school fees,” he said.
And Otieno believes there are more members of the group that attacked him who are on the loose. He said two women who first approached him are yet to be found or arrested.
“I did not see them in the videos that circulated as the other accomplices were almost being lynched. They are out there may be attempting a similar thing on unsuspecting Kenyans,” he said.
“I am now poorer and without the money they stole from me. I am hurt.”
Otieno said he had driven with his cousin to the bank and withdrew about Sh25,000 which he wanted to send to a university in Canada for his online studies.
He told his cousin to drive on and look for parking as he transacted in the bank at about 1pm. After he finished the transactions he walked out and was confronted by two women near the entrance who first introduced themselves as Safaricom agents.
They said they were carrying out a promotion, which if he put his money would triple it.
“In the process I felt dizzy and could not remember much. I handed one woman the money I had and I walked back to the bank and withdrew Sh270,000 more. I walked back and was looking for my cousin albeit confused when a man now came and grabbed the other money and walked away,” he remembered.
After the man grabbed the money, he saw him board a black Voxy car that was later intercepted kilometres away.
He screamed for help alerting boda boda riders who were nearby.
Some of the riders had witnessed the drama and gave chase after the car as it sped off towards Haile Selassie Avenue, joined Uhuru Highway before it was intercepted at University Way roundabout.
The boda boda operators beat up the three suspects who were on board and vandalised the car. In the process, the money vanished.
It took the intervention of police officers at the roundabout to shield the three who were later rushed to the Mbagathi Hospital with multiple injuries.
The drama of their beatings was captured on camera by other motorists. The getaway vehicle whose windshields had been smashed in was towed to the Central Police station.
Otieno, a father of two children, cannot explain how the two women who first approached him knew he had withdrawn the money. He said he is a week old in Kenya and planned to stay for a month before going back to Qatar where he has worked for the last seven years.
He appealed to police to go to the bank and seek security footage of Tuesday’s events to identify the women who first approached him.
“They will find them in the CCTV footage. I am sure they will be identified,” he said.
He added his family was shocked to learn he was robbed of the money.
Otieno said police recorded his statement soon after the incident. Police said a team of detectives is investigating if bank staff or imposters were involved in the incident.
Police believe some staffers or imposters usually sit in banking halls and monitor transactions before alerting gangs.
Such incidents have been reported in the past whereby people are robbed of money soon after withdrawing.
Nairobi police boss Rashid Yakub said they are investigating the incident. He discouraged mob lynching, terming it illegal.
“Always call police when you have issues. Mob lynching can be bad on those involved and it is always wrong to lynch suspects,” he said.
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