Mandera attack survivors recount chilling experience

Two survivors of the Mandera massacre have narrated how they survived the macabre slaughter and vowed never to set foot in the area.

Douglas Ondari, a secondary school teacher and nutritionist at a private hospital in Mandera, survived the attack after blood and brains from an earlier victim of shooting splattered on his head, confusing the gunmen.

Ondari narrated to The Standard how the attack happened almost three hours after they had left Mandera town for Nairobi.

His wife Millicent Gesare was the first victim and, according to Ondari, she was shot five times in the head.

Ondari, who was flown to Nairobi after the attack, said there were almost 20 gunmen who terrorised the passengers even after they had robbed them of their cash and mobile phones.

Fractured hand

He said the attackers literally broke right hands of all the men who were shot and killed. He had a fractured hand at the hospital where he was admitted.

According to Ondari, they left Mandera at about 3am and on reaching Orma Jillo area, they found gunmen on the road.

"They were six on each side and after they flagged down the bus, the driver tried to drive past them but they opened fire, killing a Somali man who was seated next to me," said Ondari.

The shooting prompted the driver to stop but he declined to open the door after realising they were wearing balaclavas. Ondari said one of the gunmen shot at the door to force it open.

While on board, they commandeered the bus towards Arabiya near the Kenya-Somalia border where it was stuck in the mud. Here they found more gunmen waiting.

"They demanded that we all produce our ID cards. Those who were Muslims were told to sit down," he said.

As men walked out of the door, they had their right hand broken using a metal bar, said Ondari who added he suspected this was meant to ensure no one fought back.

Passenger flees

As they walked out, one of the passengers managed to jump off the window and escaped on foot as the gunmen fired at him.

While lying prostrate, one of the gunmen called on Muslims there to stand up. Those who stood up were told to recite the Islam creed and the successful ones were ordered to join other Muslims.

It was at this point that Eric Omwenga, a Christian, and another survivor tried their luck.

Omwenga, who is also a teacher, decided to stand up and face the men. One of them asked him how many times they pray in a day and said five times, which was right.

He was also asked to state what the word Magaribi means in the prayers and he told them it was evening. At that point, one of the gunmen kicked him and ordered him to join other Muslims who were lying  a few metres away.

"I knew Muslims pray five times for sure and that is what saved me. Many of my colleagues think I died in the attack," said Omwenga on the phone.

Ondari said after the gunmen were done with their checks, they started shooting their targets at close range from behind.

His wife was the first victim of the shooting. And when he heard the gunshots he was tempted to stand up and face the gunmen but slain police officer Kennedy Otieno warned him against doing so.

"The police officer told me not to try and instead lie prostrate, which I did as the killer approached. They then shot the clinical officer Biese Nyankemba who was next to me, splashing his brains and blood on me as I lay. This confused the killer thinking he had killed me," said Ondari.

All along, those who had not been shot screamed for mercy and others offered money to the gunmen.

After they were done with the killing, they clapped and shouted saying Muslims in Mombasa should be allowed to pray freely.

Ondari said he lay there for almost two hours until when the police arrived and picked him up to the local hospital.

"I can go back there if and when Jesus comes back to Earth. I will never set foot there," he said.

Omwenga said he borrowed a mobile phone from those who had been spared and called his aunt at police headquarters in Nairobi to inform them of the attack.

"It was out of the call we made to Nairobi that the police knew of the attack. The other Muslims were warned against alerting police and all were afraid given what they had witnessed," he said.

He came to Nairobi on Monday aboard a miraa van.