NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 13 – Business at the Standard Chartered Bank headquarters on Nairobi’s Moi Avenue was paralysed for several hours on Tuesday after an attempted robbery.
Police who arrived when alarm was raised shortly after the bank commenced operations sealed off the building in a bid to arrest six robbers who were said to be hiding in the strong room.
The six however managed to escape under mysterious circumstances. Witnesses interviewed by Capital News had indicated that the gangsters, three of them with firearms had been trapped in the building after the botched robbery.
“At exactly 9am we received information of the robbery. Luckily they were many officers around and we managed to surround the building. We have confirmed no money was stolen,” Central police chief Richard Muguai told journalists.
A security guard who had been tied up by the thugs was picked up for questioning. The guard was arrested hours after a police search of the bank bore no fruit.
Mr Muguai said they were investigating whether there was collusion from insiders.
“What we have managed to gather so far is that somebody wanted to stage a robbery but their planning was poor. We are not sure if they were any armed gangsters in this bank.”
In a statement issued later, the bank’s Corporate Affairs Manager Anne Kabugi assured customers that their funds and deposits were safe.
Ms Kabugi stated that the incident would not affect operations at the branch.
The business community in Nairobi has in the recent past raised concerns regarding the deteriorating security situation in the Central Business District.
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