NAIROBI, Jan.22 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Nairobi County on Monday announced the formation of a special unit to crack down on criminals involved in violent robberies targeting business owners and commuters in public service vehicles.
Nairobi County Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko said the elite squad will intensify surveillance in the central business district and residential areas where a crime wave has escalated this year.
"We have responded to the rampant insecurity that has engulfed Nairobi and its environs by forming an anti-mugging squad that will work closely with regular police to combat this vice," Sonko said in Nairobi.
He revealed that five suspected robbers arrested in a swoop carried out by the police were in custody awaiting prosecution in the courts of law.
The Kenyan capital Nairobi has of late experienced a wave of insecurity linked to poverty, joblessness and social dysfunction in the mushrooming informal settlements.
An investigative report carried out by the country's leading Newspaper, the Nation on Sunday, revealed that armed criminals had invaded the Nairobi central business district where they have been robbing unsuspecting pedestrians.
The Nation on Sunday reported that the criminal gangs have been targeting civilians visiting banks or boarding public service vehicles to steal money and electronic gadgets.
Nairobi county civic leaders and security bosses pledged to coordinate efforts to stem the escalating crime wave which could scare away investors and undermine social cohesion.
The Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja said that formation of an elite squad coupled with youth empowerment projects could help reduce crime in the East and Central Africa's largest metropolis.
"Fighting crime in this city should be a collective duty involving the police, communities and business owners. We must improve on our crime busting tactics by investing in intelligence gathering and community policing," Sakaja said.
He proposed the setting up of a special fund to help jobless but enterprising youth to access capital to start a business and shield them from criminal activities.
