Hooded killers rain terror in Mombasa

Hooded gunmen walked confidently into the low-income Soweto area of Likoni, Mombasa County, and shot randomly, killing four people, among them an 11-year-old girl.

Witnesses said the gangsters, numbering between four and eight, appeared to be on a mission to kill. A survivor of the Sunday night killings, who came face-to-face with the gang, said the men “walked majestically” and even had time for greetings before they opened fire in which 10 people sustained gunshot wounds.

EIGHT ARRESTED

On Monday evening, police said they had made eight arrests in connection with the killings that have caused tension in Mombasa County.

County Police Commander Robert Kitur said the eight are believed to be part of the gunmen, who had disappeared into a nearby cemetery after the 8pm incident.

Mr Aban Awuor, who is the father of Diana Achieng’, the Standard Four pupil who was killed in the attack, said he saw four masked men carrying sacks. Little did he know what they contained.

“These guys were heavily armed. They walked to a kiosk and started talking to somebody. They suddenly turned and started firing at us. One man died on the spot. My daughter was shot dead at the entrance of the house as I dived to the ground,” he said.

The girl’s mother, Elizabeth, was selling food outside their house when the shooting started.

Mr Jeremiah Onoka, who lost a brother, told the Nation that they had just parted ways. Minutes later he heard gunshots.

“I heard screams outside and I couldn’t clearly see who the attackers were. I went to see my brother at his house just to find him lying on the ground, dead,” he recalled.

Mombasa MPs expressed shock at the attack describing it as the evil work of people bent on creating animosity between communities to destabilise the county.

The politicians who visited the Coast General Hospital and Soweto asked residents to remain calm, refuse to be incited, and ignore leaflets left behind by the killers, who are singling out a specific community for attack.

Likoni MP Masoud Mwahima, his counterparts Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita) and Hezron Awiti (Nyali) and Mishi Mboko called for speedy investigations and asked security chiefs to step up the fight against crime.

“The leaflets have no signature, Mr Mwahima said. “This is a way of ensuring the people of Likoni don’t agree with each other. We don’t like violence. Police should do better. We want answers within two days.”

Mr Nassir urged the residents not to allow criminals to disturb the unity at the coastal city.

“We need to be very keen; Mombasa is a cosmopolitan city, and we cannot start dividing or be divided along tribal lines. The security of Kenyans,” he said, “is a priority, but the spate of attacks in the country shows that the whole security department has totally failed.”

Mr Awiti said: “Continue living peacefully. The other day they were inciting Christians against Muslims to fight. Now they have changed tack to tribalism. We should not give in. We want the government to end this menace.”

Ms Mboko said Kenyans had enough of insecurity and asked President Kenyatta and his deputy, Mr William Ruto, to act.

The acting administrator at the Coast General Hospital, Dr Victor Njom, said the institution received four patients and three bodies.

He said they treated the wound for gunshot injuries, and discharged them.

After a security meeting chaired by County Commissioner Nelson Marwa in Mombasa, County Police Commander Robert Kitur said police were still pursuing the attackers who took off on foot.

The attack was being treated “as a criminal offence”, he said, and described the gunmen’s leaflet as misleading to create animosity among residents.

The leaflets claimed that the killings were in revenge for the killings that have rocked Lamu County in recent weeks.

Mr Marwa talked of elements bent on causing divisions among the public and added that the government would not give them a chance.

“There are people trying to exploit the situation in Lamu by extending it to Mombasa. This will not succeed. We have a band of criminals who are being used to cause insecurity and commotion among communities. This is a highly organised thing,” Mr Marwa said.

He urged Likoni residents not to be duped into fighting each other.

ESCAPED DEATH

A resident, Mr Osiya Otieno, said he escaped death by a whisker as he dashed to his house only to be shot on the left shoulder and hand while he hurriedly closed the main door.

“I just felt sharp pains on my shoulder and saw my hand bleeding. That is when I knew I had been hit,” he said.

Another said four youthful gunmen in black had their left leg trousers folded up to the knee and moved from right to left while shooting.

On Monday, most of the M-Pesa shops and food stores remained closed for the better part of the morning.

Reports by Wachira Mwangi, Mwakera Mwajefa, Winnie Atieno and Hamisi Ngowa