How DCI Officer With Presidential Honours Caught Al Shabaab Returnee

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested one John Mutiso Makau alias Katitu, found to be the mastermind of a series of armed robberies targeting Nairobi residents.

The suspect believed to be a returnee from the Alshabaab militia in Somalia was arrested after a dramatic chase in Nairobi’s Kayole estate, pitting detectives from the elite Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, backed up by a contingent of officers from Kayole police division, according to the DCI's narrative on Tuesday, November 8.

In the 48-hour meticulously planned operation, detectives had prior to Katitu’s arrest rounded up two of his accomplices Brian Wambua Mbindyo and Danson Musyoka Mulee.

"But it is Katitu’s dramatic arrest that left residents of Kayole’s Matopeni area shocked as they quickly shut their businesses and retreated to their homes, following a commotion that stretched for three kilometres as detectives chased after the slippery thug. 

One of the motorbikes used by the armed robbers to commit robberies in Nairobi. /DCI

"Hadn’t the lead investigator Chief Inspector Gicharu (real name withheld) outpaced the miscreant in the sweltering afternoon heat, the thug believed to have received combat and martial arts training in neighbouring Somalia, would have detoured to one of the dingy lanes in Kayole’s Matopeni settlement and disappeared from the detectives’ sight," the DCI stated in part.

However, Gicharu, who has spent most of his career chasing after armed city thugs and has as a result received the head of state commendation, disembarked from their vehicle and went after Katitu breathing down his neck with determination, before finally pouncing on him after a three-kilometre chase. 

Residents who watched the unfolding chase from their windows and halfway shut doors described how C. I Gicharu pounced on the thug's shoulders pinning him on the ground, before he went for his jugular. A struggle then ensued as the detective handcuffed the thug before the police vehicle arrived and whisked away the criminal.

The DCI headquarters’ based sleuths had initially gathered sufficient actionable intelligence regarding their whereabouts, following the gruesome killing of a man who was shot at four times in broad daylight, seconds after walking out of a bank in Donholm, on October 31, 2022.

"In the incident that attracted countrywide attention, the gun-toting thugs had pumped four bullets into Nicodemus Mbuvi Munyasya, who was walking out of Donholm’s bank carrying a carrier bag, killing him on the spot," added the DCI.

The 38-year-old accounts clerk at a paint manufacturing limited company had deposited a cheque in the bank and was walking out carrying two disposable cups in a carrier bag. Immediately he stepped out of the banking hall, two thugs on a motorbike accosted him and a scuffle ensued as the thugs snatched the bag from Munyasia, assuming that it contained a wad of cash. 

When Munyasia resisted, he was shot four times, three times on his legs and once in his chest by the fleeing thugs. Forensic Crime Scene detectives recovered one spent cartridge and one bullet head at the scene.

Three days before the incident, the suspects had accosted a woman as she left her mobile money shop in the Umoja estate, and shot her in the ankle before taking possession of her handbag which contained an unspecified amount of money. Regina Chege was approaching the gate to her house at around 9:30 pm when the thugs on a motorbike struck. 

This incident was similar to one reported at Embakasi police station on October 19, where one Dennis Musyoki and his wife who operates a mobile money outlet were attacked at gunpoint as they walked home.

"In yet another incident involving the armed miscreant gang, a retired managing director of Coast Development Authority, had been accosted at the gate to his compound in April, this year. James Kahindi, was parking his vehicle at his home in Gataka, Ongata Rongai when, when two men opened the doors to his vehicle, a Toyota Hilux.

"Kahindi, a licensed firearm holder reached for his Ceska pistol and fired two shots in the air, as the terrified thugs scampered for dear life. During the incident, the thugs shot at Kahindi’s househelp who was rushed to Nairobi Women’s hospital in stable condition," the DCI narrated further.

Preliminary findings from the Forensic Ballistic Unit based at the DCI National Forensic Laboratory established that the firearm used in all four incidents was similar. 

The detectives also established that one of the main suspect’s accomplices Danson Musyoka had a past criminal record and had been involved in various bank heists before going under. 

When he realized that he was on the detectives' radar, he retreated to his rural home in Matuu where he put up a modest home. Musyoka had recently sneaked back to the city where he teamed up with Katitu and Mbindyo to terrorize city residents. 

Aware that hawk-eyed detectives were on his trail, he changed tact from bank robberies to ferrying his accomplices to scenes of crime. He moved around in a red motorcycle that would be spotted bearing registration numbers KMF 265Y and KMGF 588H, which were the thug’s preferred getaway means. 

In the well-organized criminal gang, Mbindyo was in-charge of surveillance and his duties included going around mobile money shops in city estates gathering information on the shops and transacting large amounts of cash, before sharing his findings with his accomplices. 

In a detailed confession, Mbindyo told detectives that he would also remain at the scenes of crime and offer misleading eye-witness accounts to crime scene detectives and members of the press. He would only leave the scene after ensuring that he has tampered with every detail that would incriminate his accomplices.

In the ongoing investigations into the activities of the nefarious gang, detectives recovered 18 rounds of 9mm calibre from Katitu’s house in Fedha estate on Monday night, November 8.

The DCI noted that the operation to arrest the fourth accomplice only identified as Willie or Ibrah also a returnee from Somalia, is currently underway, with advice to members of the public to volunteer information that may lead to his arrest.

Consequently, the DCI Director Mohamed Amin has called on detectives countrywide, to be on the lookout for criminals terrorizing innocent members of the public, especially those using motorbikes as their getaway means.