People with dreadlocks in Nairobi have all the reasons to be scared as the high demand for the hairstyle is breeding a new type of thief in the Kenyan capital.
According to Nairobi News, these thugs are shaving people in salons and matatus, Kenya’s popular public service vehicles (PSVs).
“When I was boarding the matatu, I noticed two young men whom I had seen at the supermarket earlier. The one with a black backpack greeted me as he got into the vehicle. I sat on the second last row,” Brenda Okwiri, a victim was quoted by the Nairobi News.
“When I alighted, I realized that my dreadlocks were lighter and on touching my head, I discovered they had actually been trimmed. I suspected the two fellows but they had alighted two stops before mine,” she lamented. She had kept her locks for more than six years.
Hairdressers are reporting complains by their clients of loss of their dreadlocks especially in PSVs.
“Dreadlocks are in very high demand in Nairobi these days. People love them because they are fashionable and easy to manage,” Fred Benzo, Brenda’s stylist said.
Benzo says the dreadlocks fetch good prices depending on the length.
“Some go for as much as KSh40000 ($400). For KSh20000 ($200), one can get six-inch long dreadlocks. They fetch even better money when crocheted on a foreigner’s head,” he said.
And although dreadlock theft has not been common, those who have them are now forced to walked in fear.
