Court orders detention of 14 Garissa attack suspects

Politics and policy

From left: Sahal Hussein, Hassan Aden, Mohammed Abdi, Osman Abdi and Mohammed Aden in a Nairobi Court April 7 over the Garissa University terror attack. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA 

By VINCENT AGOYA

In Summary

• On Tuesday, prosecutor Daniel Karuri told the court that police are following strong leads allegedly linking the 14 to terrorism.

A Nairobi court has ordered the detention of 14 suspected Al-Shabaab operatives, including five men linked to the Garissa University massacre in which over 145 students were killed.

The five will spend a month in custody at an undisclosed police station in Nairobi while the rest will spend between five to 15 days at the Muthaiga and Kileleshwa police stations.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Daniel Karuri told the court that police are following strong leads allegedly linking the 14 to terrorism.

Mohammud Adan Surrow is said to be the owner of a hotel in Garissa town where the terrorists who attacked the university stayed while Osman Abdi Dakane was a security guard at the ill-fated college.

Mr Dakane was allegedly arrested while taking pictures of the dead and making frantic telephone calls.

Mohammed Abid Abikar, Hassan Adan Hassan andSahal Diriye Hassan allegedly delivered weapons to the attackers. They were reportedly intercepted while crossing over to Somali after the bloodbath.

READ: 147 killed as gunmen attack Garissa University College

A sixth suspect in the Garissa massacre, Mr Rashid Charles Mberesero alias Rehani Dida, a Tanzanian, was not in court “ having travelled with detectives to Garissa to gather more evidence” after he confessed to being a member of the Al- Shabaab.

“The suspects are believed to have been involved in the attack on Garisaa university on April 2 in which innocent students lost their lives...investigations so far have established that they had contact with the attackers” the prosecutor told the court as he sought extended custodial orders.

He said members of the public requested the security guard at the university to help remove the dead “but instead he started shooting pictures and making phone calls.”

“Preliminary investigations on his call data have revealed that he has been in constant communication with several contacts in Somali suspected to be Al-Shabaab operatives,” Mr Karuri told the court.

The prosecutor also claimed that from investigations it was established that some the attackers went to Mr Adan’s hotel in Garissa town. Mr Karuri said there was information that the Tanzanian  was headed to Somali to join force with the terrorists.

“In light of this revelation it was necessary that investigators rush him to Garissa for further probing,” he said.

The suspect is expected before the Nairobi court on April 9 for a similar request for his further detention.

Documents presented in court stated that the rest of the nine suspects amongst them a Yemeni and a Ugandan are suspected of being on surveillance mission for “soft targets.”