Man confesses to killing 12 in Lamu attacks

Some residents of Kaiseri, Pangani and Poromoko villages in Lamu County displaced in last year’s Mpeketoni massacre. (Photo:File/Standard)

Some residents of Lamu County colluded with Al-Shabaab terrorists to carry out last year’s attacks in a bid to drive some communities away from the area.

A confessed member of Al-Shabaab, Mohamed Ali alias Gituge Ngamau, claimed this in a statement he gave the police after being arrested in the area a few days after the massacre.

Ali, who has already admitted to murder charges before Justice Martin Muya in a Mombasa court, revealed that he was approached by some local leaders who asked him to participate in the mass murder to drive out some squatters who had invaded land belonging to some politicians.

Al-Shabaab training

The suspect, who is accused of the murder of 12 villagers, also confessed to being a former member of Mungiki before being recruited to join Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

Ali said that after dropping out of primary school in 1998, he went to Ruiru to join his cousin, Ali Hassan, who lured him into joining a Muslim group which later recruited him to Al-Shabaab.

“We were promised jobs in Somalia but on arriving, we were taken to a camp where we undertook military training on how to use firearms and general fighting tactics,” said Ali.

Ali, the first suspected terrorists to admit to having participated in the Mpeketoni massacre, said that on the night of July 5 and 6, 2014 he participated in the murder of 12 people at Hindi Location in Lamu West District. On Thursday, Justice Muya ordered that he be remanded in custody until June 25 when the court will decide his fate.

Ali said before going to Somalia in 2002, they were promised employment in which they were to earn Sh50,000 per month. However, on arrival, they were only paid Sh10,000 per month.

He said during the training, they were assigned duties of guarding the camp and collecting firewood. During his four-year stay in Somalia from 2002 to 2006, they never engaged in any war until they escaped from the camp and travelled back to Kenya.

Ali said they were led by Islam Mohamed through the thickets until they crossed over to Kenya and hiked a lift to Isiolo where they dispersed.

“Hassan Maulid and I went to Nanyuki, Saidi Ali and Ali Hassan went to Nairobi while Islam traveled to Mombasa” he said.

He stayed in Nanyuki for six months before relocating to Ruiru where he worked as a hawker before being invited to Hindi in Lamu in 2013 to take care of his cousin Habiba Mikadadi.

Well planned

During his stay in Hindi, he came across a villager, a Mr Swaleh, who took him on hunting expeditions in ranches in the area. “I used to accompany him to hunt in the ranches in the company of my friend Simon Lwale. We used to also hunt in Kibokoni forest,” said Ali.

Ali said that in April 2014, Swaleh hinted to him that there were plans to forcefully evict some people from their farms at Marimande because they did not have title deeds. “In return, we were to be rewarded with Sh100,000 and 20 acres of land each after the eviction,” said Ali.

Ali said that within one week after they met, Swaleh asked him to accompany him to a certain meeting with a villager who had a large herd of cattle. During the meeting, they were asked to kill. He said armed attackers were housed in abandoned houses near Kibokoni forest at a place called Babylon.

After the meeting, they were given different tasks, he said. Some were told to keep guard; others were assigned duties of looting; others shooting and others were told to slaughter males. He was given an AK47 rifle because they knew he knew how to operate it following his training in Somalia.

“I was instructed that during the attack, they would begin with me and I was to pretend I was under attack during which my phone would be destroyed,” said Ali in his statement.

He said that on July 5 at 8pm while taking supper in the company of Silas, John and two other women, the attackers struck. “I saw three people in jungle uniform and others approaching and on reaching where we were, they ordered us to lie down,” said Ali.

“John’s hands were tied at the back while I and Silas were tied together and frog marched to the house of Enock (a victim). They pulled him out of the house and tied his hands before being slaughtered by Swaleh,” said Ali.

After the gruesome killing, Ali says the group split into two. One group went with John while he joined Swaleh’s group that went to Mwavitu house.

He said that he was later untied and given an AK47 rifle and a long knife. After a short while, Silas was slaughtered.

They then proceeded to Sweety Corner at Gitau’s homestead where a man who was taking a traditional liquor was slaughtered. “I witnessed several people being slaughtered and other people’s houses being broken into using an axe before the occupants were shot dead,” he said in his statement.

Ali said he later returned his rifle to Swaleh as other groups went on the killing spree. “I later went back home pretending I had escaped because the rope I was tied with had a loose knot.

He was arrested at GK prison in Hindi after he was found in possession of a cell phone of one of the victims. Mohammed Ali’s victims include Mzee Enock, Kombe Kitti Mukwamba, Enock Sila, Kenga Ngoma Masaa, Justin Chege Thuku, Abednego Kyalo Musango, Raphael Mugai, Ken Mangara, Stephen Gichubi, Lawrence Kingori, John Karisa Kitsao and Goyo Kenga.