Benjamin Masero who claims he
had been recruited by Al Shabaab
to execute terror attacks in Nairobi
and Mombasa Churches and
Supermarkets.
Mr Benjamin Masero, 37,
Wednesday us that he and five other porters at a
Nairobi bus station were enticed
with job offers in Mombasa by a
man believed to be the terror
group’s agent in the city.
“We used to earn a living helping
passengers carry luggage at the
Country Bus Station. We would
meet at Tea Room every morning
and proceed to the stage. In the
last week of April, an agent of a
bus company plying the Nairobi-
Mombasa route approached us
with the promise of giving us jobs
at the bus company in Mombasa,”
Mr Masero said.
They were taken to a mosque in
Bondeni in the coastal town.
“They took us to a room in the
compound of the mosque, where
we stayed while arrangements
were made for us to take up our
new jobs. Soon after, an Islamic
preacher started offering us
Islamic teachings.”
Mr Masero comes from Ikolomani
constituency in Kakamega County
and said their full names, national
identity card numbers and places
of birth were taken by their
“hosts” who said that they would
use the information to get in touch
with their families should anything
bad happen to them.
“A number of days later, they told
us that they would pay us Sh1
million each if we accomplished an
undisclosed assignment. When we
demanded that they pay us half up
front and deposit the balance in
our bank accounts, they flatly
refused.
“They then told us that they
wanted us to plant explosives in
two churches and a supermarket in
Nairobi. The targets were the
Neno Evangelism on Haile Sellassie
Avenue and the Holy Family
Basilica and one of the Nakumatt
branches in the central business
district ,” he said.
Their task was to plant the
explosive devices in the two
churches and the supermarket and
walk away. The bombs would be
detonated remotely through mobile
phones.
Anti Terrorism Police Unit Director
Boniface Mwaniki declined to
comment on the story. He said he
was “out of town” and referred
the Nation to his deputy, Mr John
Mulaulu, whose phone went
unanswered.
One of the recruits identified as
Moses Shirongo openly disagreed
with the “Islamic preachers” over
the plan to plant the bombs and
was taken away, never to return,
said Mr Masero.
“They took him away and returned
with his clothes, telling us that we
would never see him again. We
don’t know what happened to
him.”
Mr Masero said he escaped from
“captivity” last week after
sneaking out of the room during
prayers for a man who had died.
“I hiked lifts in long-distance
trucks all the way from Mombasa
to Nairobi. “I don’t know what will
happen to the other four young
men I left behind. I am ready to
show police the mosque where
they are being kept if my safety is
guaranteed,” he said.
had been recruited by Al Shabaab
to execute terror attacks in Nairobi
and Mombasa Churches and
Supermarkets.
Mr Benjamin Masero, 37,
Wednesday us that he and five other porters at a
Nairobi bus station were enticed
with job offers in Mombasa by a
man believed to be the terror
group’s agent in the city.
“We used to earn a living helping
passengers carry luggage at the
Country Bus Station. We would
meet at Tea Room every morning
and proceed to the stage. In the
last week of April, an agent of a
bus company plying the Nairobi-
Mombasa route approached us
with the promise of giving us jobs
at the bus company in Mombasa,”
Mr Masero said.
They were taken to a mosque in
Bondeni in the coastal town.
“They took us to a room in the
compound of the mosque, where
we stayed while arrangements
were made for us to take up our
new jobs. Soon after, an Islamic
preacher started offering us
Islamic teachings.”
Mr Masero comes from Ikolomani
constituency in Kakamega County
and said their full names, national
identity card numbers and places
of birth were taken by their
“hosts” who said that they would
use the information to get in touch
with their families should anything
bad happen to them.
“A number of days later, they told
us that they would pay us Sh1
million each if we accomplished an
undisclosed assignment. When we
demanded that they pay us half up
front and deposit the balance in
our bank accounts, they flatly
refused.
“They then told us that they
wanted us to plant explosives in
two churches and a supermarket in
Nairobi. The targets were the
Neno Evangelism on Haile Sellassie
Avenue and the Holy Family
Basilica and one of the Nakumatt
branches in the central business
district ,” he said.
Their task was to plant the
explosive devices in the two
churches and the supermarket and
walk away. The bombs would be
detonated remotely through mobile
phones.
Anti Terrorism Police Unit Director
Boniface Mwaniki declined to
comment on the story. He said he
was “out of town” and referred
the Nation to his deputy, Mr John
Mulaulu, whose phone went
unanswered.
One of the recruits identified as
Moses Shirongo openly disagreed
with the “Islamic preachers” over
the plan to plant the bombs and
was taken away, never to return,
said Mr Masero.
“They took him away and returned
with his clothes, telling us that we
would never see him again. We
don’t know what happened to
him.”
Mr Masero said he escaped from
“captivity” last week after
sneaking out of the room during
prayers for a man who had died.
“I hiked lifts in long-distance
trucks all the way from Mombasa
to Nairobi. “I don’t know what will
happen to the other four young
men I left behind. I am ready to
show police the mosque where
they are being kept if my safety is
guaranteed,” he said.
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