Police yet to recover govt property stolen in Mandera attack

Efforts by police to recover stolen government property from Arabia Administration Camp by suspected Al-Shabaab militants are yet to bear fruit.

Mr Bernard Nyakwaka, the Mandera County Police Commander, said despite concerted efforts by all available security units in the county, nothing has been recovered.

“We have entered day two of our operation but it is unfortunate that we have recovered none of the items stolen [from] the camp,” he said.

A police vehicle, a motorcycle, four voter registrations kits, three firearms, ammunitions and other assorted items were stolen from Arabia AP camp by the militants.

The county police boss said the situation in the town has normalised despite communication network the disabled.

“The situation is back to normal. We have deployed enough officers on the ground including the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) and enough contingents of patrol teams,” he said.

He said the operation is being supervised by Mandera East OCPD Ezekiel Singo’e.

AP CAMP WON'T CLOSE

Mr Nyakwaka denied reports that the government has mooted a plan to close the AP camp that was flattened in the Thursday morning attack.

“We are not closing the camp because we have communities living there that need security and protection from the police,” he said.

Instead, Mr Nyakwaka said security will be beefed up by adding more officers to the current 22 stationed at Arabia.

He said the security strategy used at the time of attack did not allow sending a reinforcement team to the camp before the attack.

“Strategy remains normal until you are beaten then you go back to the drawing board and use other strategies. We have realised the officers were few and we [are] sending more,” he said.

NOT AWARE OF GROUP

He denied reports of a Nigerian being in a charge of a group of Al-Shabaab militants terrorising Mandera Town and its environs.

“We are not aware of that but you can assist us with information on it,” he said.

Mr Nyakwaka said they are reaching out to the local community to work in collaboration with the police to secure Arabia and the whole of Mandera.

“The community has to understand that security is not about officers alone but it is a joint and concerted effort between [them and the] officers for a better Arabia,” he said.

He commended the local community for their support, further revealing that adequate measures are being put in place to stop further destruction of telecommunication masts in Mandera.

Since June 2014, six communication masts in Mandera County have been vandalised by suspected Al-Shabaab militants.

In December alone, three Safaricom and one Telecom Orange masts were destroyed at Dabacity, Kotulo and Chabibar.