ARMED ROBBERS AMBUSH DAR BAR

Nafuu Bar owner Alex Shayo shows this photographer how armed robbers ambushed his bar and made off with Sh7 million in Kijitonyama, Dar es Salaam, on Wednesday night.

Dar es Salaam. Armed robbers closed a road for about 30 minutes as they frisked patrons at Dar es Salaam’s popular bar on Wednesday night, last week.

Brandishing guns, six armed robbers raided Nafuu Bar along Kajenge Street in Kijitonyama, robbing waiters, scores of football fans and other people watching a live European Championship match on television.

The robbers grabbed Sh7 million from the bar’s cashier before emptying the counter, selecting some hard liquor and cigarettes, whose value was later estimated at Sh3 million.

It was a night of drama for the victims numbering about 50 as they were robbed of money and other personal belongings like mobile phones, watches and jewelry. Those, who did not have anything were frog matched.

One middle aged man in a suit was made to crawl the full length of a muddy road culvert as punishment for not having any money. Other than gun butting, no one was injured during the attack.

The suspects arrived at the bar at about 10:30pm on two motorcycles, while shooting randomly in the air. According to witnesses, they heard eight rounds fired at that moment.

Guns at the ready, two of them took vantage positions to commandeer traffic as their accomplices headed straight to the counter.

“They ordered everyone to lie down facing the floor. We are not coming to kill; we need money…where is the money,” one of them shouted,” a bar tender identified as Ms Anne Michael Kibosho told The Citizen on Saturday at the scene.

Ms Kibosho said she was in charge of the counter and was forced at gunpoint to give out the Sh7 million. “After stashing the money in their pockets, they proceeded to frisk the patrons, one after the other.” Another woman waiter, who scampered to the toilet to hide was flushed out and forced to give out Sh3,000 hidden in her brassiere.

The bar owner, Mr Alex Shayo, told The Citizen on Saturday that the money stolen was his three days’ collection. He lamented that insecurity in the city was becoming a nightmare for businesspersons like him as similar cases continued to emerge in a rate not experienced before.

“It is now becoming a trend for gun-toting men to brazenly attack businesses at will. I have heard similar attacks like the one that happened here reported elsewhere in Dar es Salaam, but nothing seems to be done to stop this insecurity,” he said.

On the material day that his establishment was raided, he said the thugs were arrogant enough to stop cars until they had accomplished their evil mission. “They spent about half an hour here and then drove out casually on the same motorcycles towards Tandale. They shot three more bullets in the air as they disappeared.”

Shocked victims also lamented that the police arrived late despite the fact that their station was very close to the scene. “Sounds of firing could obviously be heard from the station less than a kilometre away, yet they arrived 10 minutes after the robbers had escaped,” said one of the football fans caught in the middle of the robbery. He wished not to be named for fear of “police harassment.”

Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Camillius Wambura told The Citizen on Saturday that no arrests had been made yet. He said investigations were underway to identify the culprits.

The Citizen