The mother of a teenage gangster who was lynched in Komarock area in Nairobi has confirmed that her son was a notorious thief whom she had warned of death if he continued robbing people.
19-year-old Derrick Ndungu was stoned to death at T-Mall Gate in Komarock on Tuesday, May 12 after snatching a phone from a female hawker. He is said to have been part of a motorcycle gang that has been terrorizing Nairobi residents, especially in the crime-infested areas of Maili Saba, Dandora and Korogocho.
Two of his accomplices managed to escape the angry mob but their motorcycle was seized. A manhunt has since been launched.
Speaking to journalists, Susan Wangui, the mother of the deceased, said before her son met his death, they were together in the house during curfew hours when he received a phone call, allegedly from his girlfriend identified only as Msoo.
A few hours after leaving the house, Ms Wangui said she received a call from friends informing her that her son was being stoned for stealing.
The teen’s mother said her son developed a habit of snatching people’s phones a year after completing his high school education in 2018.
Wangui, a residential property owner in Eastlands, said she had tried in vain to help her son refrain from crime.
Here’s Susan Wangui’s detailed account of her son as narrated to K24 TV.
“My name is Susan Wangui. Derrick Ndung’u, the boy who has been lynched in Komarock, is my son.
“I educated this child of mine — all the way from primary to secondary. He sat his KCSE exams two years ago.
“After completing his secondary education, I enrolled him for a driving course. When he was done with the course, I asked if he would want me to put up a retail shop for him but he refused. I asked him whether he would want an electronics shop business, he refused. I asked him to join his aunt in the charcoal business, in which he and the aunt would go fetch charcoal in Busia and drive back to Nairobi, where they would sell the wood coal at a profit, he refused.
“I asked him to be a construction worker because, being a landlady, I give jobs to many construction workers, he refused, saying he cannot do work that requires a lot of physical energy.
“There was a time he was presented to me after stealing a phone from someone. I, personally, called the police on him. He spent three months behind bars. His aunts, uncle and grandmother begged me to secure his release. I paid Ksh500, 000 police bond to secure his freedom.
“When he reintegrated into the community, I told him: ‘let me put up a business for you, which you will be running on a daily basis’, he refused. He finds satisfaction in stealing. I know, for sure, that he is a thief.
“I cannot defend him. This is not the first time he is stealing from somebody. So many people have reported to me that he stole their mobile phones. He is a serial phone snatcher. He and his colleagues operated from Maili Saba area.
“I told him: ‘my son, if you cannot listen to me, your mother, you will be killed one day’. I urge other young men who steal from people, just like my son, to refrain from theft. Should they refuse to heed this advice, they too will be killed the same way my son was killed.
“I tried in vain to advise my son. I am now telling his friends, who stole people’s phones with him, that their days too are numbered.”
“While at school, my son was not stealing from his schoolmates. He began engaging in petty theft one year after he completed secondary education. I think he was negatively influenced by his wayward friends, who smoked bhang.
“When he was being beaten up today (Tuesday, May 12), I was told that he had snatched an egg vendor’s mobile phone.
“He did not stay in the same house with me. He had rented his own house at a different location. He could not live with me because he knew I was against his thievery habits.”
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