Two terror suspects who were arrested in Isiolo County, Kenya on February 15, 2018, while heading to Nairobi armed with explosives have been found guilty of planning a terror attack in the city.
Milimani Court Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul, in her judgment, said the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence to prove that Abdimmajit Hassan Adan and Mohamed Osman had intentions to bomb Kenya’s capital.
The two were convicted of nine counts that included being in possession of 36 hand grenades, five AK 47 rifles and seven projectile bombs.
Hassan and Osman were arrested by the police in the Merti area in Isiolo county after a brief gunfire exchange that left one dead.
The two convicts were part of a five-member team that was travelling to Nairobi to launch a terror attack.
According to an affidavit filed by Isiolo-based Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) officer Kennedy Musyoki, security officers got a tip-off from members of the public that a suspicious car had been parked at a nearby bush.
The officers who were on patrol decided to find out what was happening.
On reaching the scene, one person stepped out of the car and started firing. The officers returned fire in equal measure, killing him on the spot.
It is at this point that Adan and Osman were arrested while two others who were part of the gang escaped.
On searching the vehicle, KBM 200D, the officers recovered five AK-47 rifles, 36 loaded magazines, 36 unprimed hand grenades, 18 improvised explosive devices, three military knives, and keys to a hotel room within Nairobi CBD.
It was later established that Adan, 24, had been staying at a city hotel not far away from the Central Police Station.
The hotel manager said Adan checked in on February 9, 2018, after arriving from Elwak, a town in Mandera bordering Somalia.
When police visited the room, they found the suspect’s clothes, an air ticket (Elwak to Wilson Airport), a Safaricom sim card and two unused Airtel lines.
Adan had also left behind a note asking the hotel to continue reserving the room for him, promising to make a payment the following day.
After conducting further investigations and interviewing the suspects, two other suspects, Lydiah Nyawira and Francis Karanja, were arrested in the CBD.
Police said analysis of telephone numbers and conversations had linked the two to the attack.
On February 19, 2018, two days after the arrest of Adan and Osman, two other suspects were arrested at Munyangab in Modagashe, at the border of Isiolo and Garissa counties.
They were identified as Ahmed Issack Ibrahim, 46, and Mohamed Salat, 19.
Further investigations revealed that the car that the suspects had parked in a bush in Isiolo was fitted with explosives to act as a car bomb in Nairobi.
According to the prosecution, one of the buildings that was targeted was Milimani Law Courts.
The attack was to be launched on February 16 when Sheikh Guyo Gorsa was set to be arraigned to take a plea to terrorism charges.
“The respondents were headed to launch an attack at the Milimani Chief Magistrate court on February 16 when Sheikh Guyo Gorsa was expected to appear in court to take plea in terrorism and related charges and the attack was meant to illegally free him from custody,” read an affidavit filed in court.
Police told the court they are still in pursuit of other associates who are yet to be apprehended.
