Sheikh Abubakar alias Makaburi when he appeared before a Mombasa court
in this photo taken on March 27, 2014. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Muslim cleric Sheikh Abubakar Shariff aka ‘Makaburi’ who has previously preached for Jihad has been shot dead by unknown gunmen.
The
controversial cleric was felled in a rush of bullets as he walked out
of Shanzu Law Courts within Shimo la Tewa Maximum Prison in Mombasa on
Tuesday evening alongside one other person. Another man who was injured
and rushed to hospital.
Witnesses said armed attackers pulled up in a black car and aimed at the four men as they waited for the court gateman to open.
He
had gone to wait for the decision on whether his bail conditions would
be reduced but the case was delayed by a court ‘open-day’ function,
sources said. Police are yet to issue a statement on the matter.
Sheikh Makaburi was facing charges of being a member of a terror group. He had denied the charges.
He
becomes the third high-profile Muslim cleric to be felled by bullets in
less than two years. In August 2012, Sheikh Aboud Rogo was killed in a
similar fashion by people who trailed him in an unmarked car. His murder
led to protests but the case has never been resolved.
On
Tuesday evening, there was high tension in the coastal city after
reports went round of the cleric’s killing as he awaited a ruling on
whether the court would reduce his freedom bond.
Last
week on Wednesday, the controversial preacher whose outspoken support
for Al Shabaab and justification of the Westgate attack earned him
notoriety, was awarded Sh670, 000 in damages for unlawful detention of
his property.
Mombasa High Court judge Maureen Odero
said the cleric should be paid after his property was seized by police
during a raid at his house four years ago. She said that the police
failed to persuade the court why they detained electronic equipment,
phones and computer accessories they had seized in Sheikh Abubakar’s
house.
Police had accused Sheikh Abubakar of advocating
jihad, or holy war, radicalising the youth and recruiting fighters for
Al Shabaab, which has been carrying out a campaign of terror against
Kenya, killing dozens. Sheikh Abubakar denies the claims but has
publicly said Al Shabaab was justified in killing 67 people at Westgate.
But
even as he celebrated his court award, he would never stop looking over
his shoulder. A number of his colleagues who have previously been
associated with him had either disappeared or been killed mysteriously.
In
February last year, Sheikh Makaburi, an ally to the late controversial
Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo, sought refuge at a Mombasa police station
claiming his life was danger. At the time, he claimed he had been
trailed by people he suspected to be members of the Anti-Terror Police
Unit
