On Sunday, January 20, a 23-year-old man claiming to be a former al-Shabaab trainee showed up at Nakuru Central Police Station saying he has been a member of the terror group and was fearing for his life. Immediately he surrendered he was taken for questioning at the office of the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Nakuru and later picked by the Anti Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) for interrogation in Eldoret.
After thorough interrogation, on Wednesday, January 23, ATPU boss Munga Munyalo ruled out the suspect as mentally unstable after intensive investigation process, as reported by Sources.
“Anti-terrorism officers from Eldoret picked the suspect in Nakuru but according to our investigations, he has mental problem and cannot be linked to terror group,” said Nyalo. Munyalo disclosed the suspect was found to be suffering from a psychological disorder and there was no credible evidence to link him to the militia group neither the training he claimed to have received.
He further said the case was one of the several they have been receiving with others claiming they had been sent by the terror group to bomb specific malls around the country so that they can be rewarded by government.
“Several youth present themselves to police in pretense of being members of outlawed militia, thinking by doing so, they will be rewarded by the government. Majority are those who have abused drugs and are addicts,” said the ATPU boss. The man claimed to have trained for five months at Bombolulu after he joined al-Shabaab in September, 2018. He is currently held at ATPU offices in Eldoret and will be released soon.