Nairobi motorist loses gun with 15 bullets at car wash
Detectives who arrived at the scene said they would trace the owner of the gun for grilling and further action. There were fears that the gun could have fallen into the wrong hands.
Police in Nairobi have launched an investigation after a motorist lost his gun at a car wash in Hurlingham.
The owner of the gun told police that he had taken his car to be washed but when he returned he found his pistol, which was loaded with 15 bullets, missing.
"He said that when he left his car with the attendants on Tuesday afternoon, his Ceska pistol was in the car, but when he came back, he looked for the gun but it was missing," a police report read in part.
Police later visited the car wash and questioned the workers, but no arrests were made.
Police said they were still searching for the missing gun as they feared it could be used to commit crimes.
Cases of civilians losing firearms have been reported before.
In October 2023, a patron of a popular club in Milimani, Nairobi, left his gun in a toilet.
According to police, the owner of the gun, believed to be a licensed firearm holder, visited CJ's Restaurant at Ola Petrol Station along Argwings Kodhek Road in Yaya Centre and after a visit to the toilet, the individual accidentally left behind a Steyr C9-A2 MF pistol loaded with 16 bullets, which was found resting on the cistern.
The toilet and the restaurant
The gun was found moments after the owner had left both the toilet and the restaurant, causing panic among witnesses who immediately alerted the police.
The restaurant management contacted the authorities, who arrived at the scene and took custody of the firearm.
Detectives who arrived at the scene said they would trace the owner of the gun for grilling and further action. There were fears that the gun could have fallen into the wrong hands.
A week later, police launched an investigation into another disturbing incident involving a licensed gun owner who lost his pistol while enjoying a night out at a local bar in Kahawa West, Nairobi.
The incident took a dramatic turn when the gun owner's brother, identified as Joseph Munene, was injured in an alarming encounter that sent shockwaves through the establishment and sparked a hunt for the suspected robbers who managed to evade capture.
According to the licensed gun owner, the ordeal started when he visited a restaurant to meet some relatives.
He recounted how he was attacked by two armed men on his way to meet his brother.
"I was on my way to meet my brother at a hotel when two assailants on a motorbike confronted us," he said in his statement to the police.
Munene, a businessman involved in the sand industry, believes that the robbers may have been tipped off about his status as a licensed gun owner, adding an alarming dimension to the incident.
According to the victim, the two gunmen did not target anyone else in the bar, leading to the suspicion that he was the specific target of the attack.
The assailants ordered him and his brother to the ground before forcibly taking the pistol.
They also robbed him of Sh3,000 and a mobile phone.
Mr Munene's Ceska pistol contained a total of 15 bullets.
The police say the safekeeping of such weapons is key to a civilian being granted a permit to own a gun.
The rules state that weapons should be kept in the owner's sight at all times, or in a safe in the house.
