How British terror suspect Jermaine Grant disclosed his true identity

Suspected British terror suspect Jermaine Grant revealed his nationality after being served a special meal of fried chicken and potatoes in a Kenyan police cell, a witness said Wednesday.

CID detective Kennedy Opasi noted that the meal was a welcome relief from the routine prison diet of ugali or corn cake as Grant called it, which he was apparently allergic to.

When Grant was arrested in Kisauni on December 19, 2011, he initially lied to the police that he was a Canadian called Peter Joseph, according to Opasi. Opasi told the court at Shanzu, outside Mombasa, that the Briton appeared to react badly to the routine meal of ugali and beans served to inmates at Makupa Police Station in Mombasa.

Grant is accused of plotting to detonate explosives in Mombasa and his co-accused are his wife Warda Breik Islam, Fred Ngala and fugitive Fuad Abubakar Manswab. Warda and Fred are out of prison on bail while Fuad jumped bail and fled to Somalia. Grant is the sole defendant in jail.

"When I went to interrogate Grant at Makupa station the following day after his arrest, I found him with a swollen face and when I asked what had happened, he told me the prison meal had caused the allergy," said Opasi.

Opasi, who was being led by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutor Jacob Ondari, told Mombasa Senior Prinicipal Magistrate Joyce Gandani that he then decided to buy him fried chicken and potatoes. "I bought him a plate of chicken and potatoes, a soft drink and cold water, which I took to him and we ate together as we discussed terrorism," said Opasi.

The officer told the court that as they ate the lunch, Grant opened up and told him that he was a British citizen called Jermaine Jhon Grant and not Peter Joseph from Canada.

Opasi said Grant told him many things that he was not ready to say in  court but he later gave the information to security intelligence.

He said that before Grant and Abubakar were arrested, the officers received information on December 14, 2011 that some suspected terrorists were assembling bombs they wanted to use in killing innocent people in Mombasa.

Opasi said a reinforcement was brought to Mombasa from Nairobi. He said they divided themselves into various surveillance groups to monitor Fuad Abubakar, who was among the suspects who had arrived from Somalia.