Residents of Mbiri area in Kiharu, Murang’a are living in fear of being attacked by a lone ranger who has been terrorizing them for three months now.
The suspect who has now been dubbed ‘axe man’ is said to be armed with an axe, a jerrycan of petrol and a matchbox.
According to some of the victims, the man is breaking the window panes and cutting out the grill for him to gain entry into the house.
He then douses the petrol inside the house threatening to set it on fire if the residents don’t comply to give him the money and mobile phones, which are the only things he is demanding from them.
Mercy Muthoni one of the victims said the ‘axe man’ raided her home a week ago and he demanded cash and mobile phones.
Muthoni said they gave out the mobile phones and the little cash she had but the culprit was not satisfied with the amount.
“He started dousing petrol all over the house threatening to set it ablaze if we don’t comply” Muthoni said.
“I ended up giving him Ksh50,000 which I had saved for an ongoing project here at home and that’s when he left,” she added.
Her son was also injured in the process as the man hit him with the axe on the head.
Anthony Wambugu another victim said he has been forced to move out of his home to rent a house in Murang’a town after they were attacked by the suspect.
Wambugu said the ordeal was very traumatizing for his young family and he opted to move out fearing that he might strike again.
“I have no plans of going back there until the suspect is arrested and put behind bars because we don’t know if he might attack us again,” Wambugu said.
Axe man’s description
Wambugu describes the ‘axe man’ as a giant due to his heavily built body. He said the man is so huge and he could be using this to intimidate the victims.
He however said the security agents have let them down wondering why the culprit has not been arrested despite the numerous complaints raised against him.
“The police must haste and arrest this man who has been terrorizing us and they should use their intelligence agencies to track him down,” he said.
Some of the sources who sought anonymity claimed that the ‘axe man’ moved to Murang’a sometime back and has been working in the stone mining quarry at Kandundu.
His identity however remains unclear as they believe even the name he has been using is a fake one.
Security agents have urged the members of the public to help trace the culprit and they circulated his photo in various social media platforms.
After his photo went viral some people claimed that the suspect had pitched camp in Juja area and Witeithie where he was terrorizing the residents in a similar manner and was never arrested.
