Man arrested over mosque takeovers

What you need to know:

  • Armed security officers blocked them as crime scenes after the raids in which police said they found hand grenades, petrol bombs, ammunition, a bomb detonator and other weapons, besides radical literature.
  • Governor Hassan Joho, Senator Hassan Omar, Woman representative Mishi Mboko, MPs Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni), Badi Twalib (Jomvu), Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe) and Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita) said security officers should hand over the mosques to the committees but continue to monitor their activities.

Police in Mombasa have arrested a man they say has been inciting youths to violence and taking over of mosques.

Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa yesterday said the man, who is in his 50s, was being questioned over his involvement in radicalisation and terrorism.

He was arrested on Saturday evening in Majengo and was locked up, said Mr Marwa.

“He is being interrogated to establish if he is responsible,” he told the Nation in an interview yesterday.

Once investigations are concluded, the man will be arraigned, he said.

Police officers have been sent to Musa, Sakina, Swafaa and Minaa mosques, which were closed last week after police raided them and arrested youths they claimed were planning to engage in terrorism.

However, Coast leaders yesterday demanded the immediate reopening of the four mosques.

Speaking at a news conference in Mombasa, they said the management of the mosques should be reverted to the committees that ran them before the raids.

Armed security officers blocked them as crime scenes after the raids in which police said they found hand grenades, petrol bombs, ammunition, a bomb detonator and other weapons, besides radical literature.

Governor Hassan Joho, Senator Hassan Omar, Woman representative Mishi Mboko, MPs Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni), Badi Twalib (Jomvu), Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe) and Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita) said security officers should hand over the mosques to the committees but continue to monitor their activities.

Mr Marwa said the mosques will be reopened after Muslim and political leaders identify committees to manage them.

Nyali MP Hezron Awiti attributed insecurity at the Coast to the supremacy battles between Governor Joho and the county commissioner.