Monday, November 05, 2012
BY STEPHEN INGATI, FABIAN MANGERA AND CHRISTINE LAGAT
GARISSA (Xinhua) -- One person has been arrested by police officers in Garissa town of northern Kenya in connection to the church grenade attack earlier on Sunday that led to the death of one policeman and left 14 others seriously injured.
Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Maalim while confirming the arrest of the middle aged man said that he would assist with crucial information that would help apprehend the suspects.
"This man told us that he saw a gentleman walking around the church a few minutes before the explosion.
"We wonder why he did not immediately report before the incident took place.
"We want to believe that he has a lot to tell us," Maalim told journalists in Garissa.
The police also confirmed that 14 people were injured in the latest church attack in the restive northern region.
The injured included 11 women, two men and a three months old baby.
Divisional Police Commander George Losku also confirmed the arrest of the individual and urged members of the public to volunteer information that was important in identifying the culprits.
Losku warned taxi operators that were operating in the town without number plates saying that they were the ones being used to commit crimes.
His warning comes as it emerged that militants who carried out the attack were allegedly riding in a white car that had no number plates and went ahead to lob the grenade before escaping.
The Administration Police (AP) officer who was identified as Corporal Julius Mkonzi, a chaplain in the church, was leading the mass from the pulpit when the explosion occurred.
Among the injured were two women who were airlifted to Nairobi for specialized treatment as they had sustained multiple injuries in their heads.
Ironically the attackers were brave enough to lob the grenade inside Utawala Interdenominational Church that had 30 worshippers and is situated at the heart of an AP camp and on a broad day light.
Meanwhile, Vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka has strongly condemned Sunday’s grenade attack that has heightened tension in the once peaceful town.
Musyoka said it was disheartening that places of worship were being targeted by the few criminal elements with the intent of harming innocent faithful warning that days of such criminal elements are numbered.
"I am optimistic that these are the last kicks of those criminal elements like Al-Shabaab terrorizing citizens in Garissa among other areas," Musyoka said in Isiolo in eastern Kenya.
He told the church and worshippers to be more vigilant while in places of worship so as to identify the criminal elements amidst them.
"Although it is God who can protect our nation and restore peace in Somalia, it is advisable that we become more vigilant in places of worship to avert such incidences," Musyoka said.
The VP urged Christians to help the government in the war against acts of lawlessness.
Musyoka emphasized on the need for churches to intensify the fight against insecurity by preaching peaceful coexistence among communities so that Kenyans can learn to love and respect one another.
Musyoka asked the residents of Isiolo which is cosmopolitan to live in peace as it is a requisite for development.
The Sunday’s incident led to a police shootout in the air to scare away suspected criminals whom they believe were still in the vicinity of Garissa town near the border with Somalia.
Tension remained high in Garissa town and its environs as shops and other business premises were closed down in fear.
It was the third church attack in Garissa town, the first one happened on July 1 where some 20 people lost their lives and scores seriously injured in the African Inland church.
The guns that were snatched from African Inland Church (AIC) are yet to be recovered.
Both Garissa and Mandera districts in northern Kenya have been the site of increasing grenade and gun attacks targeting both the Kenyan security forces and civilians since October 2011, when Kenyan military entered Somalia in pursuit of the militant Somali armed group Al-Shabaab.
More than 25 security officers and scores of civilians have been killed, many maimed and property worth millions were destroyed in Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Nairobi and Mombasa since the Kenyan soldiers entered Somalia in bid to forestall dangers facing from threats of Al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist Group, Al- Shabaab.