Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, on Monday, September 1, raised concerns over escalating insecurity in the city’s Central Business District (CBD), pointing to a surge in attacks on residents.

In a post on his X account, Sonko alleged that armed gangs wielding crude weapons were roaming the CBD, with women being the primary targets.

He urged the National Police Service (NPS) to act swiftly to restore safety in the capital, calling for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the street-level assaults.

“Cases of thugs using crude weapons like knives, machetes, real and toy guns to steal from unsuspecting members of the public within the CBD have become rampant. Their main target is women.

“As a former leader of this Nairobi of ours, I’m humbly appealing to the National Police Service to move with speed and bring these culprits to book. Their days are numbered,” he stated.

Sonko was responding to a troubling case that emerged after a woman shared on social media how she narrowly avoided a mugging along Kimathi Street. In a viral video, she explained that several armed individuals followed her in broad daylight, but she managed to escape by seeking assistance.

“I had not looked behind me; I was being followed. I was so shaken; I went to a loading bay and requested an Uber. I informed the Uber driver that I was being followed by some suspicious people and that I needed to pick up dinner before going. The Uber driver told me it has been happening for quite some time,” the woman said in the video.

Security in Nairobi’s CBD has recently come under scrutiny, following a viral video last week showing unidentified individuals raiding Nanak House, opposite Sarova Stanley Hotel, and attacking several businesses.

In response, the National Police Service (NPS) linked the incident to a business dispute, clarifying that the confrontation was civil in nature. NPS spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga dismissed claims of widespread insecurity in the city centre, stressing that the Sunday incident was isolated and not politically driven.

The NPS further assured the public that Nairobi’s CBD remains one of the safest areas for business, given its role as a key commercial hub.

On June 19, Viral Tea reported that hired goons on Tuesday, June 17, were allegedly instructed to target and gravely harm women participating in the peaceful protests to cause public outrage and force the government to impose a ban on future protests.

This was revealed by Kenyan investigative journalist Dennis Okari, who disclosed that a source had intimated to him that the goons hired to counter the protesters had specific instructions as well as tools they would use to cause mayhem and destruction, making it easy for politicians to pin the blame on the protesters.

Okari, who spoke during a show on Spice FM, revealed that the most chilling thing he was informed of was a deliberate plan to target and stab a few women in the CBD, something that would trigger national outrage similar to what happened in the wake of rampant femicide cases across the country.