By JUDY OGUTU                       

Two suspected terrorists now claim that a group of armed men attempted to abduct them in Nairobi.

Aboud Rogo Mohamed and Abubakar Shariff Ahmed told Nairobi Principal Magistrate Paul Biwott that a group of armed men numbering between eight to ten attempted to abduct them Wednesday at gun point. This allegedly took place at Coast Bus offices in Nairobi.

“The accused persons had to struggle with them and they (gang) ran in different directions,” their advocate, Mr Mbugua Mureithi said.

He told the magistrate that the two were saved by members of the public who intervened, forcing the gang to disappear.

Their lawyer also told the court they had reported the incident at Kamukunji Police Station

“This incident is very traumatising to the accused persons especially because in the past five months or so, persons known to them and who have been facing similar offences as the accused persons have been extra judicially executed,” Mureithi alleged.

At this point, senior state counsel Edwin Okello stood on a point of objection, saying such a statement should not go on record.

“This is stated from the bar without evidence, how can he from the bar make insinuations which are not supported by evidence”, he posed.

Mureithi maintained those were his instruction but Okello told the court he needs to know what to tell the court.

“You are interfering with the procedures in court, you cannot tell the court that. You cannot say those are your instructions. You need to know what to tell the court,” Okello added.

The magistrate cautioned Mureithi against mixing issues, ruling that his fears are misplaced.

Concerning the abduction claims,  Okello said the allegations had taken them by surprise.

He said the allegations were serious and should be thoroughly investigated and the findings availed to the court.

Okello further said they had information that the accused persons were interfering with some prosecution witnesses.

“We have witnesses who are terrified and scared of giving evidence because of threats emanating from proxies of the accused. We have instructed police to investigate and we will be reporting back to court on the same,” Okello added.

In his ruling, the magistrate said the investigating officer at Kamukunji Police will investigate the matter and give the report to the court and necessary action will be taken.

He also adjourned the case to Thursday after the suspects said they will not be able to follow the proceedings.

This, they said, was because they were on a fast as they were staunch muslims and the abduction attempt took place just when they were about to break the fast.

The two have been charged with engaging in an organised criminal activity by being members of Al Shabaab. They also face several counts of incitement to violence. The offences allegedly took place in Mombasa in 2010.