When his son Luther Muthandi Kuria,18, failed to return home on the evening of July 18 last year, Charles Kuria Muthandi was not unduly worried.
Mr Muthandi, a children’s officer in Nakuru, thought his son had arrived safely at his grandmother Elizabeth’s Wanjiku’s home, in Kenland’s estate within Nakuru City.
Unknown to him, criminals had attacked his son that night, tortured and hacked him to death.
He woke up the following morning to find out if Luther had safely arrived at his grandmother’s place.
Shockingly, Luther did not go to his grandmother.
He was missing.
Worried and fearing for the life of his son, Mr Muthandi started searching for his son.
The search led him to the Nakuru City County mortuary.
True to his fears, the body of his first born son, a form three student at Loreto High School, lay cold at the mortuary.
“I was shocked when l viewed his body. It had deep cuts on the head. His body was still soaked in blood. The killers had tortured him before they took his life,” Mr. Muthandi told the Nation.
“My son died in a lot of pain; in the hands of the criminals. He died at a tender age, when he was on top of his dreams. His killers tortured him and stole his shoes and phone I had given him as a present, during his birthday, ten days before he met his death, “explained the father.
In a desperate search for answers, Muthandi sought an explanation from the mortuary attendants on how the body of his son ended up there.
“They told me that Luther’s mutilated body had been found by police officers at a sewerage line in Flamingo estate, who took it to the mortuary,” he recounted.
Muthandi says, it baffles him that nearly 10 months later, no one has been arrested in connection with the murder of his son.
A police officer who sought anonymity revealed to the Nation, that the murder was committed by members of the notorious criminal gang known as ‘ Confirm’ that has been terrorising residents of Nakuru City.
“I was on patrol within Nakuru town when we got information that the teenager’s body had been found at a Sewerage line in Flamingo Estate. The body had deep cuts on the neck and other parts of the body. Investigations later indicated that the boy had been murdered by members of the Confirm gang,” revealed the police officer.
An autopsy conducted on the body of the teenager revealed that he died due to excessive bleeding. His body parts also had deep panga cuts.
“Police have been dragging their feet in conducting investigations into the killing of my son. All l need is justice for my son. His killers are roaming freely in Nakuru City. I have tried to follow up on the matter, but to no avail,” Mr Muthandi told the Nation.
Investigations by the Nation indicate, prior to his brutal murder, in May 2021,Luther had been involved in an altercation with a group of four men, who stole his phone in Nakuru City.
The four were arrested and charged in court over the theft, but we’re later released.
At the Rift Valley Directorate of Criminal Investigations offices in Nakuru City, detectives say investigations over the incident are still underway.
“We have been following crucial leads into the bruta murder, we will soon arrest and prosecute the those behind the murder of the teenager,” revealed a senior detective.
Luther’s murder is not an isolated incident, the gang has in the past killed and maimed many people in Nakuru City.
Residents of Bondeni, Manyani, Kivumbini, Kwa Rhonda and their neighborhood, in an interview with the Nation, say they have lost count of the number of youth killed by the gang.
Members of the criminal gang continue unleashing terror against residents despite police crackdowns.
Several residents interviewed by the Nation especially in the informal settlement areas said the gang members normally armed to the teeth with crude weapons and sometimes guns have been terrorising them.
“Several people have been attacked and left nursing serious injuries by the gangs, which also make away with their property. Nobody is spared, including police officers. They sometimes attack even police officers,” said John Ondimu a resident of Flamingo Estate.
Residents also say the gangs commit crimes in broad daylight and at night.
Despite regular swoops and arrests of some members of the group, they continue committing crimes.
Scores of gang members have also been killed, since last year, in attacks and counter-attacks between the splinter criminal gangs that form the Confirm group.
Residents say the dreaded Confirm gang, has over the years mutated into a dangerous outfit, which enjoys protection of some local politicians.
The criminal gang, that normally consists of idle, unemployed youth from the slums’ dwellings is usually armed with crude weapons including pangas, metal rods, swords and sometimes guns, according to police sources.
More than five people have been killed since last year due to clashes between rival groups of the Confirm gang.
Confirm’ gang, which investigations by the Nation reveal has tentacles spread in various slums including Kivumbini, Lake View, Kwa Rhoda, Kaptembwa, Flamingo, Kaloleni and Bondeni, has been operating with impunity, terrorizing residents in Nakuru City and its environs.
The gang, that was on December 2016 listed by former Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery as one of the more than 90 outlawed gangs operating in Kenya, swindles residents by obtaining money fraudulently through mobile money transfer services.
Members of the gang are also responsible for robberies, muggings and harming residents especially within the informal settlement areas.
In the streets of Nakuru the criminals sometimes snatch handbags and phones from visitors in broad daylight.
The gang members also often waylay their victims, rob them their valuables before disappearing into their hideouts.
Members of the Confirm gang are normally aged between 13 and 26 and residents describe them as ‘young and dangerous.’
They have no second thought about hacking or shooting a person they think stands in their way of getting what they want.
They are vicious young people sometimes acting under the influence of strong hallucinatory drugs.
The notorious gang reigns supreme in Nakuru’s informal settlement areas and has remained an headache for security officers for years.
So daring are the gang leaders that they even recruit school children and other teenagers.
Security officers in Nakuru have been grappling with at least five gangs including the notorious Confirm gang, Gaza, Dragon and new ones like Eastlando and Msafi Kwanza, which have been terrorizing residents in various estates, especially in the informal settlement areas.
The Gaza group and the other two, according to residents, have been terrorizing residents of pipeline, parts of Lanet and even Nakuru City.
Police sources say, members of the Confirm gang, are normally armed to the teeth with crude weapons including pangas, metal rods, swords and sometimes guns.
The Confirm gang, is also said to have a network of fraudsters on the loose who use mobile money technology to swindle Kenyans out of their hard-earned cash in Nakuru and other towns.
Idle, unemployed youth and school drop outs, in the slums dwellings are blamed for existence of the criminal gangs which police in Nakuru have been trying to subdue.
Security authorities in Nakuru have for years been grappling the gang, which has remained a major headache.
Despite their age, the gang is lethal in its adventures in the dark world of crime.
When darkness sets in, some of the informal settlement areas are no go zones. However, the gang members still operate during the day and have devised ways of escaping police dragnets.
Police presence in the areas, where they operate, does not deter the criminals.
The youthful gang, which has protection of some politicians and rogue police officers, has made some parts of the slums to be impregnable crime fortresses.
Despite regular swoops and arrests of members of the group, it has kept on resurfacing.
However, over the weekend, Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Maalim Mohamed revealed that a special police squad has been formed to tame re-emergence of criminal gangs , including the dreaded Confirm gang.
“We have kicked off a major operation to weed out all criminals in organized gangs in Nakuru and other areas of Rift Valley. In Nakuru City, a multi-agency squad called anti-Confirm has been formed to deal with the notorious Confirm gang that has been terrorizing residents. We will not tolerate resurgence of any criminal gang, those involved will face the full force of law. We will deal with criminal elements ruthlessly. I urge residents to be candid and report any criminals, to help police arrest them,” revealed Mr Mohamed.
“In Nakuru City, we have been able to dismantle and destroy their cells. In the past two months, we have arrested members of the Confirm gang and the operation will continue, until they are all wiped out,” added Mr Mohamed.
According to a senior detective who spoke with the Nation, the squad will be responsible for tracking down the criminal gangs and destroying their cells.
“The special unit, has already been assigned to carry out operations in places where the gangs are believed to operate. The newly formed unit is made of General duty police officers and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, “revealed the detective. BY DAILY NATION