By Fred Kagonye
Friday May 26, 2023
Abdullahi Lali Shosi, 26, who charged at the Shanzu law courts with being a member of a terrorist group, collecting information and possessing terrorism articles. [Courtesy]
A man arrested by police for aiding the movement of three men linked to the Isis terror group has been arraigned in court.
Abdullahi Lali Shosi, 26, was arraigned at a Shanzu law court where he was also charged with being a member of a terrorist group, collecting information and possessing terrorism articles.
He denied all the charges and his lawyer Chacha Mwita applied to have his client released on bail.
The prosecution opposed the application saying that he is a flight risk; the court will rule on his bail application on June 6, 2023.
Police believe Shosi is at the centre of the Isis recruitment and facilitation network in Kenya and he covers the coastal region.
The terror group has links in Congo, Mozambique and Somalia and fighters in Kenya have been moving to join the group in the respective countries.
Police arrested Shosi on April 29 in Malindi. He was first arraigned in court on May 1 where the prosecution sought to have him held longer to complete investigations into his activities.
Shosi came under investigators’ radar after he tried to bribe officers by offering them Sh50,000 through proxies to release three men who were arrested by police on their way to join Isis in Puntland, Somalia.
The money was meant to bribe a police commander and other officers involved in the arrest and detainment of the three before they were taken by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit officers.The three men; Ayub Bwanaadi, his brother Mohammed Bwanaadi and Kassim Ahmed were arrested on April 7 in Isiolo in a Moyale-bound bus.
The men told police that they had been hiding in Tanzania after police issued warrants of arrest in 2019 following the murder of a senior chief, assistant chief and a police officer in Lamu County.
In Tanzania, they were under the care of Ali Omar Bwanaadi, who is Ayub and Mohammed’s brother.
Omar fled from Kenya after a warrant was issued over his alleged involvement in the killings of security officers and government officials in Lamu.
The three men then decided to leave the country for Somalia after Kenya contacted Tanzanian authorities to help apprehend them.
Omar then introduced them to Shosi who was based in Mombasa at the time to aid their movement to Nairobi where they were met by another handler.
They travelled to Mombasa through Lungalunga with the help of boda boda riders and boarded a bus to Mombasa town.
Once in Mwembe Tayari, Mombasa, Shosi transferred them into a waiting vehicle that moved them to Eastleigh and gave them Sh150,000 for their travels.
In Eastleigh, they were received by the handler who hosted them for several days before giving them new sim cards to avoid detection by authorities.
He also trained them on personal security and counter-intelligence as they made their way to Ethiopia, where they were to get new identity cards from a handler there for easy travel to Puntland.
The three men then boarded the Moyale-bound bus before their arrest in Isiolo on April 7.
Kahawa Law Court magistrate Gideon Kiage on May 24, 2023, declined to release them on bail after they were charged with being members of a terror group and murder.
They are accused of murdering Hesborn Okwemwa, a policeman, on October 2, 2019.
They are said to be behind the killings of Mbwajumwali location senior chief Mohamed Haji Famau and Myabogi sub-location assistant chief Malik Athman Shee on December 12, 2019
According to Police, Shosi under instruction from Isis leaders in Congo and Ethiopia facilitated recruits to join the terror group in either of the two countries.
They also believe that he is part of the Isis point men in Kenya and was aware of attack plans and activities of the terror group in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.