Woman accuses police of shooting husband

A woman on Sunday accused the security forces of inflicting severe injuries on her husband following the terror attack at the Westgate mall.

Mrs Khadija Ali claimed her husband, Mr Ali Kiai Gitonga, was shot by Kenyan security officers at the Westgate mall after he was suspected of being one of the attackers.

According to her, the husband, whom she said was working for a Mr Ahmed Abdi, had taken his boss’ daughters out for shopping at the mall when the terrorists struck.

“He called and told me to send him some credit. He just said that he was at Westgate and that the place was under attack and instructed that I watch television for more news,” she said.

That was around 1pm on Saturday. It was from then that Mrs Ali followed the events as they were broadcast live on television. About four hours later, the husband called again and informed her that he had been shot and could die any time.

“I was shocked beyond words. The phone fell from my hand,” she recounted as tears freely flowed down her cheeks.

She kept on calling but the phone went unanswered for most of the time until around 8pm.

“He then told me that he had been evacuated from the building but was in the hands of police officers. He didn’t tell me that the officers were suspecting him,” she added.

At the time, Mr Ali was already in hospital.

The 35-year-old father of two and his wife, alongside other family members, were later re-united at the hospital for the first time since the attack was reported.

“Three police officers were with him and another six joined them, with one of them saying: ‘Huyu ni suspect’ (He is a suspect) while pointing at him,” she recounted.

“They hastily whisked him away and we were ordered to leave. His phone and ID were confiscated and we have not set eyes on him again, neither do we know where he was taken to,” she claimed at the Jamia Mosque in Nairobi.

She insisted that the security officers are responsible for her husband’s gunshot wounds. He was shot on the shoulder, chest and thigh where a bullet remained lodged on Saturday night.

Some Muslim leaders who spoke to the press at the Jamia Mosque said some innocent Muslims had been detained by the security forces for suspicion that they could have been involved in the attack.