At 3.16am on Wednesday, undercover police officers in Kayole, Nairobi, received a message from a colleague on their WhatsApp group.

The officer had been called by a greengrocer, who informed him that a group of four people, were robbing residents.. Accounts of the suspects matched the description of the gang , three men and a woman,  wearing the same clothes the officers had seen a few hours earlier when the same group escaped their dragnet just before midnight., according to police.

The gang was elusive and the officers had to carefully plan how to ambush it, even though they did not have sufficient information on the mode of transport the four were using.

When the police officers arrived at the crime scene,  the four suspects ignored a police order ordering them to surrender, instead two of the robbers who had handguns began firing back, according to the police.

Both shooters, a man and a woman were killed in the ensuing gun battle, while the other two escaped on foot.

The dead female bandit later identified as Claire Nwaniki. was still clutching a Beretta pistol, which had six rounds of ammunition, police said. its serial number filed off.

Claire Mwaniki aka ‘Clea Adi Vybz‘, was still clutching a handgun, when police recovered her body.

Social media vixen Claire Mwaniki aka ‘Clea Adi Vybz‘ was married to a gangster

Police spokesperson  Joseph Gichangi who confirmed officers took the two bodies to City Morgue said: “the woman was the wife of a well-known robbery suspect, who is at large,” Mr Gichangi said, adding that the police were looking for the escapees. “We will definitely arrest them.”

Gichangi said cases of women being recruited into criminal gangs was on the rise.

After the shooting, a mysterious social media user claiming to be a plainclothes police officer and going by the names Hessy wa Kayole, Hessy wa Dandora and Hessy wa Huruma took to Facebook, identifying the woman as Claire Mwaniki, the wife of a “notorious” robber known as Mwanii.

“Hayawi hayawi huwa. Clea Adi Vybz mnakumbuka nikimpea warning awache wizi na bwanake Mwanii???? (Clea Adi Vybz, do you remember me warning her to stop committing robberies with her husband Mwanii?),” Hessy wa Kayole posted.

Claire Mwaniki aka ‘Clea Adi Vybz‘

In an apparent reference to a post on a Facebook page called “Dandora Love People” in March warning the woman and others that the law would catch up with them, the Facebook user went on to recall a warning to Clare to stop carrying the gun for her husband.

“Sabrina Hassan, Mungu alikuokoa (Sabrina Hassan, God saved you),” Hessy said in the post on the “Kayole Crime Free” and “Dandora Crime Free” Facebook pages and warned another woman to stop her criminal activities.

Hessy, who has in the recent past posted pictures of suspects, warning them of death, named Clare and Mwanii as members of the dreaded Kayole-based gang known as Gaza.

Nairobi Police Commander, Japheth Koome, said many criminal gangs have actively recruited female members into their folds.

Nairobi Police Commander Japheth Koome said many criminal gangs in Kenya’s capital have female members

Besides Gaza, gangs in the city include Superpower (Eastleigh), Brothers (City Centre), Usiku Sacco (Umoja), Msako Empire (Huruma), Jeshi la Embaa (Embakasi), Munyipi (Mathare) and Kosovo Boys (Kosovo).

“The women are used to transport guns, gather information while some even take part in robberies,” Mr Koome said, adding that they also deliver supplies to the male suspects in hiding.

He said the involvement of females in crime is a challenge to the security as officers are not allowed to search handbags.

“We are employing some other strategies, which I will not divulge as they will jeopardise our operation,” he said.