Epuka Ugaidi

Al Shabaab Sympathizer And Facilitator Presents Himself To Authorities

Al Shabaab Facilitator Francis Macharia Karishu has presented himself to the police. The former owner of a printing shop at Nairobi’s Luthuli Avenue was arrested Sunday evening in Kayole Estate.

The Culprit on whom police placed Ksh 1 million bounty was operating a business by the name Paste Printers in Nairobi, within RIDGES building along Luthuli Avenue, where he engages in the printing of fake identity cards, bank cheques, title deed forms, birth certificates and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education certificates among other documents.

Police have revealed that it was Karishu who processed the four (4) fake Kenyan Identity cards that the two terror suspects Abdimajit Hassan Adan and Mohamed Nane, who were planning to carry a VBIED attack in Nairobi, were using.

Karishu closed shop after wind the authorities were looking for him and escaped to Kayole where he is said to have put up in a ‘safe haven’.

Wanted Al Shabaab Facilitator On The Run

Police are hunting for FRANCIS MACHARIA KARISHU, who is involved in helping terrorist to fraudulently acquire Kenyan Identity Cards.

Karishu operates a business by the name Paste Printers in Nairobi, within RIDGES building along Luthuli Avenue, where he engages in the printing of fake identity cards, bank cheques, title deed forms, birth certificates and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education certificates among other documents.

The two, Abdimajit Hassan Adan and Mohamed Nane were arrested in February this year in Merti, Isiolo with a bomb laden car headed for Nairobi to carry out attacks. The fake Identity Cards were used by the two to access the Country from Somalia.

Initial investigations by the Police indicate that Karishu has been engaging in the illegal business for a long time.

Karishu’s accomplices in the fake document syndicate Lydiah Nyawira Mburu and John Maina Kiarii have since been arrested and charged with forgery of official documents contrary to section 351 of the Penal Code and facilitating activities of terrorist Groups contrary to section 9(1) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2012.

Following the arrest of his accomplices, Karishu closed his business and went into hiding. The police are calling on the public to report to the nearest police station any information that may lead to Karishu’s arrest.

Young Blud Saints, An Emerging Cult Targeting Youth

There is an emergence of a cult operating within Nairobi that targets youths especially students in the University. The cult believes that there are three gods namely: true god,false god and random god.

They also believe that the random god is the one who fails them because he is not firm with his decisions and that his answers are not straight. Members are expected to sacrifice what they love most to prove loyalty to the organization.

Therefore, the Director of Criminal Investigations takes this time to caution members of the public and urge parents to keep a keen eye on their children to deter them from being recruited to such evil organizations.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is closely monitoring the activities of the cult. Parents and the general members of the public are encouraged to seek psychological guidance from professional counselors and religious institutions when they notice unusual change of behavior in their children.

For assistance kindly contact us on our social media handles: Twitter @DCI_kenya and Facebook account.

Son In Search Of Job Makes Last Call From Al Shabaab Camp

A family is appealing for help to return son back home after he called to say he had joined the Al Shabaab.

Sarah Khalamwa from Mwambuli village in Lugari sub-county claims her 19-year-old son called last weekend to inform her that he had crossed over to Somalia and joined the militia group.

“I could not believe my ears when he told me that he had already signed a contract with the Al Shabaab, and that he would not be coming home anytime soon,” the mother of five told journalists at her home.

According to the woman, her son left home for Nairobi last February in search of a job. He later informed the family that he had landed a farmhand’s job in Westlands, Nairobi. “He would send me some cash for upkeep until he broke the news that he had joined the group,” she said.

The family has been making frantic efforts to reach their son in the last one week. Then he was not reachable again. “Now our calls are going unanswered,” said the mother. They now fear their son, who they describe as responsible and disciplined, may have been radicalised before recruitment.

Before calls to his phone went unanswered, his elder brothers had tried to talk him out of the idea of joining the terrorist group. The family now wants security agencies to help track down and return him back home. “We are worried about his safety. It is possible Al Shabaab might have taken advantage of his young age to lure him into joining the group,” she said.

The family is optimistic the Kenya Defence Forces currently deployed to fight the militants in Somalia can trace and return the youth home. “I have struggled to raise him, I hope the Government will hear me and come to my aid,” said his mother.

AMISOM Extends Mandate In Somalia as Al Shabaab Diminishes

A UN-backed peacekeeping mission in Somalia, which faces attacks by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, received unanimous Security Council backing Tuesday until July 31.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), with about 21,600 troops, operates with the approval of the UN and relies on international funding.

By extending Amisom’s mandate to the end of July, the United Nations Security Council allowed for a review of recommendations expected in a “joint assessment” report on Somalia to be presented by June 15.

In its resolution, the Security Council recalled that it authorized the African Union to reduce Amisom to roughly 20,600 personnel by October 30, after 1,000 troops were pulled out last year.

There are plans for a full withdrawal of foreign troops by December 2020, but heads of state and ministers from the main troop contributors — including Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda — in March warned the timeframe for the drawdown was “not realistic and would lead to a reversal of the gains made by Amisom.”

The mission was deployed in 2007 to defend the internationally-backed government against attacks by the Shabaab, a Somali-led Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Somalia is slowly gaining its foothold as the forces liberate most regions and citizens.

Al Shabaab Fighters Surrender After Prolonged Rains And Floods Hit Somalia

In recent months Al Shabaab militia capabilities in South Somalia region have been quashed to an extent of desperation with some of the militia desperate to quit the group before it is too late.

They have been under sustained ground and aerial attacks from the security forces significantly weakening them. These has been happening with the assistance of US and other international partners. The militia group is losing fighters daily, a situation which is prompting them to decamp.

The ongoing rains in Somalia which is causing floods further compounds their misery as their camps in Middle and Lower Shabelle have been washed away leaving them with no place to stay.

In addition to that they have no place to train or hide from security forces.
New recruits have been abandoned and left in a state of confusion not knowing what to do or where to go. Their only viable option is to surrender to security forces so that they can get assistance to leave the flooded areas.

The rains are a blessing in disguise as those who have surrendered are willing to work with the officials by giving them information on the operations of the militants.

Al Shabaab Misinterpreting Ramadan To Justify Attacks

Ramadan has witnessed a stunning rise in attacks relative to other months in recent years, an increase attributed to terrorist groups, and its attempts to transform the month of prayer and atonement to one of bloodshed and violence.

Ramadan is of such a high status; acts of good deeds during the month are of immense virtue and earn a greatly multiplied reward, this has been misinterpreted and twisted by terrorist groups to include attacks on non-Muslims.

Calls for violence were covered in Islamic language, such as when ISIS and Al Shabaab officials claimed that the heightened religiosity of the ramadhan season meant spiritual rewards for terrorist acts and that and it would be greater than normal days.

To validate themselves, jihadists often evoke the Battle of Badr, a key moment in early Muslim history that occurred during the month of Ramadan in the year 624 CE. During the battle, Muslim forces overwhelmed their enemies despite being massively outnumbered. Against all odds, their victory ensured the survival of the fledgling community of believers. It’s no surprise that jihadists like to draw attention to this example, manipulating it to their political ends.

The truth is, just as one receives multiplied rewards for good deeds in ramadhan, terrorist groups receive multiplied bad deeds for spending the sacred month of ramadhan oppressing people and killing the innocents.

For Muslims globally, these attacks during ramadhan are perhaps the clearest evidence that organizations like Al Shabaab are un-Islamic and distort the core message of their faith. That is why in Kenyan Muslim scholars have come out in numbers to denounce these evil minded terrorist groups who claim to be Muslims but do the exact opposite of what Islam teaches.