Police trailed terror suspects before Nairobi blast
By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, May 29 2012 at 22:30
Posted Tuesday, May 29 2012 at 22:30
Police were trailing four terrorism suspects a week before the Monday blast in Nairobi in which 36 people were injured.
Sources in the force told the Nation that detectives, who had been monitoring the movements of the four, were alarmed when they changed sim cards six days to the explosion at Moi Avenue’s Assanand’s House.
This is one of the leads detectives are pursuing in the hunt for those responsible for the attack.
Three of the suspects are said to be based in Nairobi and the other one in Mombasa, where a Muslim lobby group yesterday condemned the attack.
The Kenya National Muslims Advisory Council chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao demanded the resignation of those charged with the protection of Kenyans.
In the Nairobi explosion, police sources said the suspects’ movements were being monitored using their mobile phones.
However, detectives have established that the phones which were being tracked were nowhere near the scene when the explosion went off.
And on Tuesday, American detectives joined the hunt for the suspects. Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode said the government had sought assistance in tracking down the suspects.
Focus on two men
“For Nairobi and parts of the country to be safe, we will need the assistance of the FBI and even the Scotland Yard (from the UK). We are determined to wipe out the terrorists,” he said.
Police said investigations had concluded that the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device ‘‘planted by criminals’’.
‘‘The investigating team is now working to establish the identity of the perpetrators of this serious crime,’’ spokesman Eric Kiraithe said in a statement adding that they were zeroing in on two men.
One of the suspects, whose photo police circulated, is identified as Emrah Erdogan. He is believed to have entered Kenya through Garissa from Somalia on May 3.
Mr Kiraithe also said tests were being done to establish the materials used in the explosive. However, some sources indicated that a fertiliser bomb could have been the cause of the lunch-time explosion.
Detectives from the Federal Bureau of Investigations were at the scene collecting samples for tests.
Samples for analysis
They sifted through the debris using special metal detectors. Samples collected were sent to the Government Chemist and the US for analysis.
The development came as fresh details emerged about events leading to the explosion that caused a huge hole in the ground and blew off iron sheets from the roof.
Ms Susan Mwangi, the owner of stall number 11, next to number 10 where the explosion occurred, said the device was placed there in a bag by a man posing as a customer.
Quoting her employee, Ms Esther Wamoyo who was wounded in the explosion, she said: “She (Esther) said a middle aged man had come to the stall at around 10.30 am and wanted to buy a T-shirt, and he returned later at around 1 pm, just moments before the explosion.”
The saleswomen in stalls number 10 and 11 normally sit together and when the man came in, they attended to him.
He wanted to buy a T-shirt but the two stalls do not deal in T-shirts. And when the man, described as heavily bearded, returned, Ms Wamoyo offered to bring him the item from nearby stalls.
“It is at that time he put down his bag and left pretending to be going to fetch a colleague... barely two minutes after, the explosion went off,” said Ms Mwangi.
The saleswoman in stall number 10, identified only as Josephine, was critically injured and is at KNH’s Intensive Care Unit. Ms Mwangi said Ms Wamoyo was too traumatised to talk to the press. (READ: Five victims still at KNH)
On Tuesday, Medical Services minister Anyang Nyong’o told Parliament that five people were still being treated at the hospital. Two suffered 80 percent degree burns and are in ICU “in critical but stable conditions.”
Briefing the House, he said 23 were treated with soft tissue injuries and discharged. Mr Ojodeh said the government will crack down on those who deal in the explosives, which are widely used in the construction industry.
Police said the victims would speak to detectives as soon as their conditions improve. A spot-check by the Nation on Tuesday revealed no signs of stepped-up security in the many buildings with stalls in the centre of the city.
“As you can see, there is no one screening those who come and no security measures of any kind are in place. We are just praying for God’s protection,” said Ms Trizer Mwende at Kikwetu building on Moi Avenue.
In related news, two men police suspect to have terror links have not been traced since last Wednesday night when they were taken in Molo by people colleagues allege were police officers.
Mr Sylvester Owino Opiyo aka Musa Osodo and his friend Jacob Musyoka are said to have been driving to Kisumu in the company of two women when their vehicle broke down at the Molo junction.
While they were repairing the vehicle, police officers accosted them and after interrogation, picked the two men and went away with them, leaving the women with the vehicle at the scene. The vehicle was towed to Molo police station.
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