Angry residents burnt a motorbike believed to be used by a gang of robbers who broke into a wholesale shop at Lwandeti market in Matete, Kakamega County.
According to the shop owner Mr. Stephen Wanyonyi Nyongesa he closed the premises and left for home at around 8 pm but later at around 11 pm there was a power blackout and when he tried reaching the market guards to find whether all was well, their phones went unanswered.
“I decided to contact my neighbouring businessman who told me that he had also tried reaching them unsuccessfully,” said Wanyonyi.
At around 12 am he received an alert on his phone from the security alarm informing him that somebody had tampered with the alarm.
“I decided to wake up some of my friends and went to the shop where we found all the doors and windows intact the way I had locked them but the alarm had been broken. One of the friends who had escorted me decided to climb on the top of the roof to check if there was any damage where he found the iron sheets had been cut and there were two men inside who were climbing towards the top,” said Wanyonyi.
He said the two men managed to escape and disappeared into the dark but with injuries after the friend who was on top of the roof cut them with a machete.
He said when he entered inside he found they had packed assorted items worth thousands of shillings and some cash which they were ready to carry.
The suspects escaped leaving behind two mobile phones, a national identification card and a motorbike which had been parked outside a nearby shop.
The incident attracted dozens of residents who decided to burn the motorbike.