Garissa University attackers actualised a student's April Fools' Day prank

Siaya, Kenya: Lwak Kanyikela Village in Siaya County was yesterday engulfed in grief and tears as the family of former Garissa University College student narrated how a Fool's Day prank on their kin's death became a reality.

On April 1, 2015, the late Anneter Miller, a first year Bachelor of Education student, sent a message to her sister Winnie Mandela.

The text scribbled in Luo and seen by The Standard read 'Omuoch grenade e skundwa ji ohinyre marach' (A grenade has been exploded in our school and people have been seriously injured).

Ms Mandela who lived in Nakuru was shaken and tried to soberly engage her sister so as to get more about the threatening message.

"I was scared given that Garissa had been an attack hotspot and I tried to ask where she was at the moment and the extent of the incident," said Mandela.

Annetter was however reluctant to disclose much about the incident and diverted the chat, asking Mandela to send her some pocket money as she was broke.

"I wanted to know where she was and where the attack was but she simply said she was hiding in class where she had been revising for her examinations and that the attackers had exploded the hostels," said Mandela.

The chat soon stopped. Mandela quickly forwarded the message to her elder brother Elvis Odhiambo.

But before the message could reach their parents, Annetter sent another message to Mandela, asking her if she ever knew it was a Fools’ Day and that the message was a prank.

"Oh God I felt so bad and told her never to joke about such issues, but I think she was prophesising the attack which eventually occurred the following day," said Mandela.

On April 2, the former student of Kereri Girls' High School became a victim of the Al Shabaab killings which claimed 148 lives. Five other students from Siaya County were also killed in the incident.

Annetter was yesterday laid to rest at her parents' Rarieda home in an emotional ceremony which sent mourners condemning the heinous act which has since created fear in most learning institutions in the country.

The late Annetter Miller, the fifth born in a family of nine was the first of the family members to join university, and the high hopes by the family and the community that she would become an icon within them have been dashed.

Her father Samwel Ochiel described the late Annetter as a well-behaved and humble girl who was worth emulating.

"She was simple yet focused, outgoing, selfless and forgiving, a caring daughter and a girl of high standards and high ideals," he said.

Ms Mandela moved the crowd when she narrated how she identified her sister from the heap of other dead colleagues at Chiromo Mortuary using her finger nail painting.

 

"Annetter loved pink finger nail paint and that is all I used to identify her as her face had been badly mutilated," she said.

A host of university students who attended the funeral called on the National Assembly to use their legislative role to make the country safe.

"It is clear that the attackers have found out that most areas have been sealed off and are now going for the vulnerable which are learning institutions. If we can't be assured of our security let the government step aside to allow able people to take the mantle," said Odhiambo.