Grenade attacks suspect arrested

By CYRUS OMBATI

Police investigating Saturday night’s grenade attacks on a matatu terminus in Nairobi that left six people dead and 66 injured are questioning a suspect over the incident.

Also arrested are three other men who were helping the man to move into a new house in Umoja estate in Nairobi, hours after the blasts happened.

Witnesses said the men were confronted by police as they unpackaged household goods into the house on Sunday morning and whisked away.

Another witness said the suspects may have been with "several explosives and weapons" when they were arrested. They were arrested by a contingent of police drawn from Anti-Terror Police Unit and Flying Squad.

The suspects with their belongings were later driven to Nairobi Area ATPU offices where they were undergoing interrogation on Sunday.

It is not clear where the main suspect was moving from but informed sources said he had been under watch of police over a past grenade attack on police officers.

Top police commanders remained tightlipped over the arrests only promising out of quote a statement would be issued at a later stage.

The arrest came as internal security minister George Saitoti vowed to get those behind the attacks. Saitoti told journalists in his office that Somalia militants Al-Shabaab were behind the attacks.

"Such terrorists’ acts on innocent civilians will not be tolerated and the government will do everything within its power to ensure that security of Kenyans is guaranteed," said the minister.

He added the attackers had staged similar attacks in Nairobi in the past citing Kwa Mwaura’s Bar and Kaka Matatu terminus at OTC where one person died and more than a dozen injured.

Police officers tasked with pursuing the attackers indicated on Sunday that they are following good leads.

Forty-nine remained in hospital while the others were treated and discharged. Saitoti said 11 of those in hospital were in acute wards after suffering burns.

Saitoti gave a chronology of events on how the attacks took place saying the first one occurred at about 7.30pm.

The area of target by the attackers is usually crowded at such time as is the main terminus of most passengers headed upcountry and pedestrians headed to or from the busy Gikomba and Muthurwa Markets.

The minister said the attackers were in a saloon car and were driving along Landhies Road towards Jogoo Road when the incident occurred.

He added they threw four grenades consecutively about seven meters apart. Police combing the scene said they had recovered a safety pin and lever that shows the grenades were manufactured in China.

The attackers lobed the explosives to crowds of people who were either walking or standing waiting to board vehicles to their destinations. Small craters were formed in places where the grenades landed and they remained sealed off by police for the better part of the day.

Saitoti was accompanied by his Permanent Secretary Mutea Iringo, commissioner of police Mathew Iteere and AP commandant Kinuthia Mbugua. They all had earlier met with intelligence boss Michael Gichangi.

After the blasts went off, crowds were forced to escape on foot as others jumped onto public service vehicles that were on sight.

The blasts were loud that they could be heard several kilometers away causing confusion. One of the victims died more than 100 meters away from where one of the grenades landed, an indication he was trying to escape on foot when he bled and fell on the way.

His body lay at a petrol station several meters away and police found an identity card in his pockets, which confirmed he was a victim. He had blood oozing from his stomach after being hit by pellets from the grenades.

"I thought it was a shooting incident and took cover in a matatu that I had boarded. And when they had all blasted I saw people running down and later saw several others lying on the ground," said survivor James Wainaina.

Police had difficult time controlling crowds that gathered at the scenes of the attack even though some of them were useful to the officers in providing a witness account.

It took the arrival of more GSU officers at the scene to secure it as traffic personnel made efforts to control flow of vehicles.

There has been a string of small arms attacks and explosions on Kenyan soil ever since Kenyan troops crossed the border to pursue the terror group.

Kenyan soldiers fighting Al-Shabaab in Somalia are due to be integrated into the African Union peacekeeping force next week.

The group has threatened to attack Kenya on several occasions. When the troops crossed into Somalia remnants of the terror groups, some of whom are Kenyans staged attacks on public places killing at least two and injuring dozens.

Following the October blasts, police raided a house in Kayole and recovered guns, bullets and grenades, which yielded an AK-47 assault rifle, four revolvers and a sub-machine gun, 13 live hand grenades and 770 assorted rounds of ammunition.

The owner of the house, Elgiva Bwire, was later arrested. His house had no furniture save for a small mattress of about four inches thick and a folded prayer mat.

He was convicted on his own confession and handed life in prison.

Bwire, 28 was also handed a 15-year sentence for Al-Shabaab membership and another seven for being in possession of firearms illegally. The two counts, however, are in abeyance. Related story