Al-Shabaab beheads Kenyans ‘for spying’

Jared Mokaya Omambia, alias Abdulaziz, who is said to have been trained by Al-Shabaab to kill before the terrorist group executed him. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Further investigations showed he last communicated with his parents on August 21, 2015, claiming that he was in Tanzania.
  • Faraj became an enemy of the terrorists when he escaped from the training in December that year.

Fresh details have emerged about Kenyans killed by Al-Shabaab in Somalia after they were suspected of spying.

Jared Mokaya Omambia, alias Abdulaziz, 30, and On Abdul Majid Faraj, 22, were beheaded because the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group suspected them of spying for Kenyan security agencies.

Mr Omambia, who was born in Uasin Gishu but grew up in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, was an information technology graduate of Moi University's class of 2013.

His profile that was prepared by the government and seen by the Nation says: “After he finished his secondary education, he travelled to Isebania in Migori County in an attempt to find a teaching job with his Form Four certificates.

"It is suspected that it is in Isebania that Jared was introduced to Islam and later converted. He adopted the name Abdulaziz. While in Isebania, he was closely associated with a cell that was involved in recruitment of youth from the area and Tanzania into Al-Shabaab.”

He is believed to have been indoctrinated after his graduation.

Police started monitoring him following a report filed in confidence that he had castigated some of his friends, calling them “kaffir,” a derogatory term for non-believers. Al-Shabaab calls for the execution of such people.

“While in Isebania, he claimed to have gone to visit a relative who is a pastor there. His associates noted his interest in joining terror organisations such as Al-Shabaab,” adds the report.

The matter was reported to police, who arrested and charged him at a court in Kehancha, Migori County.

The suspect was released on a Sh10,000 bond with orders to report to the officer in charge of the Isebania Police Station every month.

Mr Omambia honoured the orders on two occasions only, then vanished from the security radar in June 2014.

That is when he travelled to Al-Shabaab camps in Somalia, where he was trained to kill.

Security officers assigned to track him found him at Sirikwa Hotel, Eldoret, on November 20, 2015.

Further investigations showed he last communicated with his parents on August 21, 2015, claiming that he was in Tanzania.

AN ENEMY
However, security agents tracked the call and discovered it was made from Somalia.

“It is not clear why Jared could have been killed by Al-Shabaab. But it is likely that he could have been disillusioned by what he found in Somalia and may have attempted to come back home. In addition, his arrest could also have fuelled suspicion,” said the government report.

The other suspect, Faraj, is thought to have been born either in Saudi Arabia or Mombasa.

Investigations established that he was a student of slain Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo.

In January 2011, his parents reported to the police that their son, then aged 16, had gone missing.

Unknown to them, he was training with Al-Shabaab suicide bombers in Mogadishu, Somalia.

He became an enemy of the terrorists when he escaped from the training in December that year.

“Al-Shabaab captured him on his way to Hagadera. He was detained for a month in Kismayu. He was released upon the intervention of an Al-Shabaab operative who was a neighbour in Old Town Mombasa,” says the report.

The suspect fled again and sneaked into Kenya but was arrested in Eastleigh in April 2012. He was again arrested at Ndununi while travelling to Somalia in May 2014.

But because he was a minor, he was released to his family, only to go missing again.

“His arrest and subsequent release from police custody made the Al-Shabaab believe that he was working for the government,” adds the report.

Others killed in Somalia include Abu Mansour Al Amriki, aka Omar Shafik Hamam, in 2013. He was executed alongside Usama Al Biritani, a Pakistani national, on accusations of spying for the United States.