Friday September 14, 2018
A group of women at Elwak Hospital in Mandera react on September 13, 2018, after the killing of three family members said to have been picked by police. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION
A family in Elwak, Mandera South, is crying for justice a day after three of its members, said to have been picked by security officers, were found dead.
Mr Mohamed Osman said his two sons and their cousin were picked at his home by uniformed security officers on Tuesday afternoon only
for their bodies to be found in a thicket on Wednesday.
“I was at our new settlement when the police from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) came and picked four of my sons,” he said amid sobs.
Mr Osman said he was spared after his younger children started wailing as the officers frog matched the four away.
“I was saved by the wailing of my children but my four sons and their cousin were taken away by these officers,” he said.
A group of residents at Elwak Hospital in Mandera react on September 13, 2018, after the killing of three family members said to have been picked by police. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION
According to Mr Osman, his family had just moved to Qababa village in Elram, Kotulo Ward, in search of water for their livestock when the police came visiting.
Police are said to have picked the relatives during their search for suspects who planted an explosive in the area on Tuesday that destroyed their vehicle.
A source within the police told the Nation that the family was a victim of the security operation.
“A police vehicle was hit by an explosive in the area on Tuesday and we launched a search for the suspects who we believe were within,” the source
said.
Mandera South Deputy Count Commissioner Matabeyi Kimbeyi declined to comment on the matter.
One of Mr Osman’s son, 14-year-old Adan Mohamed, said he was beaten and dropped far away from their home as the officers went away with the remaining three.
He is nursing injuries in hospital.
The deceased are brothers Ali Ibrahim Hassan, 24, Siad Ibrahim Hassan, 32 and their cousin Saddam Ali Uwes.
“One of my sons has left me with the burden of raising his five children and two wives, another has an expectant wife, what will I do now.” Posed Mr Osman.
A postmortem report at Elwak hospital indicated that the three died after being shot in the head.
“They all have gunshot wounds on their heads and other fractures we observed, but they died from excessive bleeding,” said Dr Muktar
Maalim in his report.
Local leaders condemned the killings and termed them extra-judicial with Mr Mohamed Rashid Ali, the Kotulo MCA, blaming security operatives in the area.
“We need to be shown evidence that these three were terror suspects including the weaponry found on them when they were arrested,” he said,
Elwak North MCA Adan Maalim Mohamed appealed to the government to stop the senseless killings of locals.
“This is the second time innocent people are being killed in this village by government organs and time has come to stop that,” he said.