Home / Coast

Terror suspect linked to killing of police officer, two chiefs in Lamu arrested

Ian Henry Otieno's family said he was sifting through mounds of rubble at the scene to recover any possessions that were spared the destruction.(Photo: EV)

By Farhiya Hussein | 29 Apr 2024

According to detectives, Mustakima Ali, also known as Abu Mahir, and his accomplices are believed to have gone into hiding after the brutal killings in December 2019.

A suspect linked to the murders of a police officer and two chiefs in Lamu County in December 2019 has been apprehended in Malindi.

Mustakima Mohammed Ali, labelled by the police as a wanted terror suspect, was intercepted from a Malindi-bound bus during a Sunday afternoon operation by Anti-Terrorism Police, supported by their Special Operations Group (SOG) colleagues at the Sambaki Bridge roadblock while en route from Lamu.

Keep reading

According to detectives, Mustakima Ali, also known as Abu Mahir, and his accomplices are believed to have gone into hiding after the brutal killings in December 2019.

They are reported to have initially sought shelter in Boni Forest but were later driven out by security forces before disappearing to a neighbouring country.

“In April 2023, three members of his gang returned to the country but were intercepted and arrested on the Isiolo-Moyale highway while heading to Somalia. They were charged at the Kahawa Law Courts and their case is ongoing,” detectives revealed, stating they are tracking additional suspects who have been identified and are on the police radar.

In 2019, unidentified attackers killed the chief of Mbwajumwali, Mohamed Famau, 45 and Athman Shee, 43, the assistant chief of Myabogi sublocation, in their office.

Two individuals wearing buibuis, traditional Islamic attire for women, approached the victims with their faces concealed by veils.

They fatally attacked the administrators, slashing them to death, in what authorities described as an unprecedented and audacious assault in the area.

At that time, then-Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia stated that their primary lead centred on several drug kingpins operating in the area.

Macharia noted that the deliberate killing of the two individuals in broad daylight was meticulously planned.

The duo was laid to rest the next day in observance of Islamic tradition.