Terrorist attack in Siaya? The untold story of deadly attack on KCSE exam team

The bizarre attack and killing of a police officer escorting Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination papers in Alego Usonga, Siaya, on Monday reawakened security fears of activities of radicalisation and terrorist recruitment.

Investigations by the Nation reveal an intricate connection between aspects of crime in the region and with radicalisation of youth, a majority of whom are school dropouts and unemployed.

The brazen killing of police officer Edwin Erocho, the injury of his colleague Allan Aluteshe of Siaya GK Prison, and the seizure of their weapons by assailants armed with knives remains a puzzle. But it is the killing in Mahero of the two suspects involved in the death of the officer that has shown indications of radicalisation in the area. Police seized Islamist religious literature they suspect was intended for radicalisation.

“We recovered various weapons including machetes, knives and some crude weapons. We also found five copies of the Koran and some writings that point to religious extremism,” said Siaya County Police Commander Kleti Kimaiyo.

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Four years ago, security officers confessed that they were closely monitoring the activities of a radicalisation and terrorist recruitment cell in Siaya County.

Then County Commissioner Michael ole Tialaal said the group had been recruiting youths in Nyadorera, where one of the suspects of the Monday police killing in Siaya was arrested, and that some of them had crossed into Somalia to join the terror group Al-Shabaab.

“Another group was returned by security agencies from Tanzania while en route to Somalia,” Mr Tialaal told the Nation in 2019.

“We are aware of radicalisation taking place in parts of Siaya and have identified those behind the clandestine activities with a view to arresting them and ensuring security.”

At the time, even the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) launched programmes to empower youth and women groups to discourage them from radicalisation.

However, Community Initiative Action Group Kenya executive director Chris Owala said the government was doing little to contain the radicalisation of youth.

“It’s the government promoting it. The law and order is not anywhere and gangs are celebrated and protected by politicians,” he said.

Mr Owala said intelligence officials were disconnected from the community, giving room for criminal activities to flourish.

“Chiefs are at the mercy of criminals. We need to attach police to all chiefs for action and prompt response. At the moment, no one is even acting on community intelligence.”

“We also need to strengthen the role of village elders and chiefs in security, entrench community policing unit and work towards establishing and strengthening county policing Authority as per laws established,” he said.

First forward to 2023, it seems these heart-wrenching activities were far from over, if the events at a village in Hawinga-Kaugagi in Alego Usonga, Siaya, where two suspects of the police killing were shot dead, are anything to go by.

Today any stranger or strange vehicle visiting the village sends shivers down the spine of the locals after the Wednesday, November 22 morning incident that led to the death of the two suspects.

The eerie silence in the village has not left the area with the sounds of ricocheting guns still vivid in the minds of the locals.

After the Monday attack on Police officers escorting KCSE exam papers to Mahero Secondary School, the suspects were traced to a shack built a few metres from the main road joining Hawinga and Siaya.

The Nation visited the scene to unravel the mystery stay of the duo in the village and the horror was still fresh.

At the sleepy village in the remote parts of West Alego, locals talk about the incident in whispers and hushed tones.

Having lived with the suspects, who dared to attack and kill a police officer in the same village for that long, is a puzzle that the locals still find hard to solve.

The movie-like operation conducted on a Wednesday morning is a story that will be narrated to generations to come.

“The plainclothes officers dashed off the vehicles with guns already corked ready for war... within minutes gunshots saturated the air,” said a member of the community who declined to reveal his identity.

“At my age,” said another member of the community recalling the operation, “I took off towards the river when gunshots intensified. I knew that would be my last day. I met other villagers hiding in the bushes by the river.”

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The shack where the two suspects were gunned down had been built less than five months ago and the locals only knew one occupant. “The owner of the house is a member of this village and we know him. However, his two friends who were killed by the police were from other regions and they seldom interacted with other members of the community. We did not know them nor had we interacted with them,” the source added.

Falling out

According to the locals, one of the two deceased suspects was of Somali origin.

A few metres from the scene rests a mosque, “Masjid Imaana,” according to the locals, they used to worship there. The residents say they had seen the two suspects earlier before falling out with the leader of the mosque.

“They fell out with the leader of that mosque because they were smokers. The leader is said to have disagreed with them on the consumption of drugs, so they were just residing in that house in isolation,” said a resident.

It was after the death of the two suspects and the bodies collected by the police that the residents learned about them.

The horror was not only experienced by the locals from Hawinga Kaugagi, kilometres away in Ruambwa, Budalang’i, Busia, a pastor faced a similar ordeal a day before.

It is alleged that after attacking, killing and wounding officers and taking their guns in Mahero they proceeded to Ruambwa and took shelter inside a building that did not have occupants next to Wanga Hills.

“The trio was in one of the houses within a homestead belonging to the son of Pastor Remjus Ojiambo. The house where they hid from mid-morning around 10am belonged to the son of the pastor who stays in Kisumu,” said a neighbour.

The distance between Mr Ojiambo’s house and his son Joseph, who reportedly lives in Kisumu, was such that they could not know what was happening.

“The house seemed abandoned because around it was thick bushes. They stayed inside that house for hours until late in the evening after untying a dog which is usually tied next to the house to scare away monkeys,” added the neighbour.

According to the neighbour, the End Times Harvest Church Ruambwa pastor was not aware of the guests at his son’s house.

“There was also a neighbour who was herding cattle metres from the homestead. He saw the pastor and asked whether he had guests in his son’s house. That is when he realised that there were strangers on his compound,” he explained.

The two then went to the house to establish who the intruders were. They found three people inside the house.

“When they reached the house, they found the three were comfortably seated conversing. The pastor demanded to know what they were doing inside the house, they responded that they had visited a friend to shelter from rain and were planning to leave as soon as the rains subside,” he said.

Things, however, went awry when the host asked them who their friend was and why he was not with them in the house.

He suspected the three might have been up to a sinister motive and attempted to call the area chief.

“When he attempted to call the chief, one of the men confronted him to stop and snatched the phone. A scuffle ensued, forcing one of them to point a gun at the pastor, an ex-navy officer, who then attempted to grab the gun,” said the neighbour.

To contain the host, the other person pulled another gun, forcing Ojiambo to surrender.

"The other herder who accompanied him to check the unwelcome guests took off and shouted for help after seeing the gun.

"They took the phone and walked away as if nothing had happened. They went and climbed Wanga Hills, leaving behind Ojiambo whom they had assaulted," he explained.

He informed the police quickly who arrived and began pursuing the suspects who had climbed the thick Wanga Hills.

"At 11pm we could see spotlight rays moving within the hill, so we believe they stayed there for the night. The police surrounded the hill with sniffer dogs and the search continued," he added.

By the time the Nation team visited Mr Ojiambo's home, he had gone for a medical check-up.

According to the Police incident report at Port Victoria Police Station, the trio left Arafat scarf behind.

"The trio then made their way towards Wanga Hills leaving behind an Arafat scarf red-white checked, a maroon T-shirt and a note titled " Naam Assalam Walaikum Ikhwan Fi LLAH", read part of the incident report.

After a search by the officers, one of the suspects was arrested in Nyadorera later in the evening, through him the police traced the others at the shack in Hawinga Kaugagi last Wednesday.

Two suspects linked to the killing of the police officer in Siaya had been traced to their hideout in Hawinga through information gathered from the public.

"The two were traced to a house at Hawinga in Alego Usonga in a joint operation with teams from Siaya and Busia counties. We had been working day and night since the ugly incident on Monday," said Siaya County Police Commander Kleti Kimaiyo.

He said after locating the suspects' hideout, law enforcers surrounded the place but the suspects opened fire when they sensed danger.

"Our officers knocked on the door but the suspects responded by shooting at them. The officers took cover and neutralised them," said the police boss.

Mr Kimaiyo also said one of the suspects was arrested and is currently being held at Siaya Police Station for questioning.

Police also recovered two guns stolen from the officers during Monday's attack, which left one policeman dead and another seriously injured.

The tiny house, located a few metres off the main road between Siaya and Hawinga in Central Alego, is in a quiet, innocent neighbourhood with no suspicions.

The floor was covered with a mat and strewn with utensils and a book with the names of several people.

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