Fred Mukinda
21 February 2007
Nairobi — Police informers and mobile telephone technology helped in tracking down "most wanted" criminal Simon Matheri Ikere to his hideout where he was gunned down yesterday morning.
Curious residents of Athi River surround a police pick up carrying the body of one of the most wanted crime suspects, Simon Matheri.
The end for the notorious gangster came when detectives used an informer to call Mr Matheri on his cell phone while technicians of a mobile phone company detected his location to a house he had rented in Athi River Town near Nairobi.
Matheri and an accomplice identified as "M" alias Gathumbi were sprayed with bullets at the doorstep of their Athi River hideout at around 2 am.
The operation to hunt down the dangerous outlaw, described by police as public enemy number one, was carried out by a squad of more than 100 policemen.
Residents of the dusty down in the outskirts of the city danced and sang in praise of the police on learning that the real Matheri had been killed at last.
Later police took the bodies of the two thugs to Nairobi City Mortuary where hundreds of wananchi gathered to ascertain that Matheri had, indeed, been shot dead.
Simon Matheri
The killing of the gangster and his accomplice was something the police will celebrate, having hunted for him without success for the past five years. In Matheri's rural home in Gachie, near Nairobi, villagers did not believe that he was no more. They hired matatus to go and see the body at the mortuary. Once they confirmed that it was indeed Matheri, they also sang and danced around the body lying on a mortuary slab - spitting on it, taunting it and calling it names.
Caused havoc
Earlier in Athi River, police broke into celebration after felling the man they had hunted for years. Some officers even entered the house and sat on the sofas to get a feel of where the man who had caused havoc used to retreat to after his escapades.
The police had laid a trap around the Athi River flat where Matheri lived minutes after 1 am when their informer assured them that the man wanted for the murders of at least 11 people and a spate of robberies had arrived at his house.
It also followed an assurance by the phone technicians that calls which were being received by Matheri on his handset showed he had not changed location for the one hour they had been following him.
The house had been marked by detectives last week but they would not move in until they were sure he was inside.
Matheri had rented the flat in a block of 10 units in Athi River Town as his hideout.
On Monday, he had left the house at 11am in the company of his accomplice and the two had been dropped back at the flat by a taxi at 11pm.
Another accomplice, who was identified by Mr Matheri's wife as Ikumu, had also been a frequent visitor there. When police surrounded the house in the middle of the night, they ordered the suspect out, and Mr Matheri, dressed only in blue boxer shots, opened the door and stepped outside. Police said he was armed with an AK-47 rifle and they shot him while he was attempting to load it.
But his wife, Felista Wanjiru, insisted Matheri stepped out unarmed after she persuaded him to surrender fearing that police would spray bullets into the house and kill her and the six children who were with them.
Next to him lay his accomplice, who was also shot in the head, and dressed in a light Jeans trouser and a flowered biege shirt.
The police later displayed an AK-47 rifle and a magazine containing 26 rounds of ammunition they claimed was armed with at the time he was shot.
One of the officers said he had attempted to fix the magazine on the rifle but they opened fire before he could make the move.
Also recovered was a one-dollar bill, the old Sh5 note and a national identity card belonging to 21-year-old Kelvin Njuru Ng'ang'a.
When police arrived at the house minutes after 1am, they took cover by lying flat on the ground in the compound and the officer in command warned his neighbours who were asleep to get ready for a shoot out.
"Kuna mwizi hapa kaeni chonjo (There is a robber here stay alert.)
At that time, Mr Matheri and his wife were sleeping in the bedroom, his accomplice in the kitchen and the children were in the living room.
"I heard when the police arrived. There was an unusual sound of moving objects but Matheri just dismissed it, saying it was emanating from the table room where the children were," said Ms Wanjiru.
She went on: "Suddenly the police identified themselves. For my own safety and that of the children, I begged him to go out and sort out his problems with them warning him that we would all die."
The killing ended a five-year hunt which had gathered pace from last month just as a crime wave hit parts of the country, the most violent having occurred in Kiambu, Kiserian and Nairobi and were blamed on Matheri.
The police have been under criticism for failing to cope with a wave of violent crime and capturing or killing Matheri had become a priority.
But he always seeemed to be one step ahead of the law.
For instance, on Sunday, police had missed Matheri by a whisker after he was spotted at the Railway matatu terminus in Nairobi.
Wanted man
Later the same day, they mistakenly arrested two innocent men, fresh university graduates, at cafe near the Old Nation House roundabout after one of them was mistaken for the wanted man.
Last week police had also come close to arresting him at a cafe in Mlolongo on the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway and at Kenol along Thika Highway; but on both occasions he managed to slip away.
Nairobi police boss Njue Njagi arrived at the scene shortly after. He said the hunt was still on for other members of Matheri's gang, who are still at large. Speaking to journalists at the scene, Ms Wanjiru said she came to learn that Matheri was a criminal when his photograph was published in newspapers and broadcast on TV bulletins.
"All the time I believed he was a taxi driver at the city centre," his wife said.
When she saw the news for the first time two weeks ago, she confronted Mr Matheri and he vehemently denied the news.
"Don't listen to rumour mongers but believe what I only tell you. At my home in Gachie I only have a grudge against one man called Machua," she quoted Matheri to have told her.
She ran away from the home only to come back after Mr Matheri threatened to kill her.
"He called my brother on his cell phone and warned that he would kill me if I refused to return. I finally returned and since then, he confiscated my cell phone," she added.
Ms Wanjiru is pregnant and has three children from an earlier marriage. The other three children who were at the house are Matheri's from another relationship in Murang'a.
The children were brought there by Matheri on Sunday. He brought them to Athi River by matatu after their mother ran away on learning that he was being hunted by police.
Among attacks linked to Matheri include the shooting to death of Mr Ng'ethe Muthee, 63, at Kihara shopping centre in Gachie, Kiambu on August 5, last year.
The killing sparked riots from villagers who went on the rampage and torched eight houses belonging to Matheri's father, uncles, brothers and other relatives.
Other incidents include the shooting to death of renowned Aids researcher and University of Nairobi lecturer Prof Job Bwayo, Ongata Rongai businessman Lawrence Regeru and Limuru businesswoman Felista Kuria on along the Kiserian - Isinya road.
Matheri is also alleged to have shot dead Nairobi businessman Humprey Gichuru and his 23-year-old son Kiarie Gichuru, Ondiri, Kikuyu, after a three-hour carjacking spree in which several other residents were robbed.
Others include the killing of a matatu passenger at Mwimuto, Kabete on July 30 and barely a week before an Administration Policeman was shot at the local chiefs camp and his firearm stolen.
Later yesterday police commissioner Hussein Ali issued a statement saying the war on criminals was still on even after Matheri was killed.
"We shall not let up in the war against violent crime until all gangsters have been apprehended and brought to justice," said Maj Gen Ali.
The statement was signed by police spokesman Gideon Kibunjah.
Others remaining on the list of most wanted criminals include: Cirus Mugendi Njeru alias Patrick Irungu, Godfrey Mulwa Kitheka alias Ngilu, Evans Mathyaka Mue alias Walter Musyoka Mue alias Kijana, Samuel Gitau Saitoti alias Simo, Jackson Irungu Mwangi alias Jack and Charles Njoroge Wanditi.
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