Does This Video Show Alleged Robbers Set on Fire in Thika, Nairobi?

In the past couple of days, the government together with Nairobi’s county government have been implementing amendments in  bid to address the rise in insecurity cases in the city. One of these being, forming a county policing authority chaired by the governor. 

Meanwhile, this tweet claims to show alleged robbers set on fire in Thika, about 40 km from the CBD. 

Background

To create panic and some sense of fear, images such as this have been going up the internet. Some genuine and others, such as this one, flagged as MISLEADING. It claimed to show a man being mugged in an unidentified street in Nairobi. 

Verification

Comments from this tweet suggest this video was taken in Kenyatta University, Nakuru Campus. With ‘KU Nakuru Campus’ search on Google Maps, results showing the building pictured comes up.

Another similar search on Twitter with ‘Thika thief’ as keywords provides a video of this incident. Presumably, one where a screengrab was captured from but with the same claims. This one was shared on Twitter on June 25, 2022. 

From this video, a screengrab shows the Kenyatta University Nakuru Campus sign board on this building’s rooftop. 

More searches on Google provide this video from November 11, 2021. Geolocating where this video was taken, results point back to Kenyatta University, Nakuru Campus. This video posted on YouTube was taken from Serein Education Centre, a building adjacent to the Kenyatta University, Nakuru Campus. 

Here are similarities between these two videos. One is the position of the motorbike on fire and the alleged robbers. 

In an article published by The Standard, these suspected thieves tried to snatch a mobile phone from a pedestrian before being cornered along George Kamau Avenue, just a few meters from the University’s premises, where they were ambushed and set on fire. 

Verdict

This image does NOT show alleged robbers burnt in Nairobi. 

This fact-check was produced by Africa Uncensored with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, African Fact Checking Alliance network and the United Nations Development Programme.