Self-confessed Al-Shabaab student arrested in Kakamega

A form three student is in police custody in Kakamega after confessing to be a member of the Al-Shabaab terror group.

Francis Lumumba, a student at St Ignatius Mukumu Boys' High School in Kakamega, is alleged to have confessed to his teachers that he is a member of the terror group.

Confirming the arrest, the Western Regional Police Commander Moses Ombati said they are investigating the matter to establish the truth.

"We are aware of the case and we are currently investigating. We want to establish the merit of the information," said Ombati.

The form three also claimed they are three other students in the school who are members of the terror group armed with grenades, AK 47 and other weapons with plans to attack other students.

But after a search in the school the weapons were not found. Ombati said his officers have received the information and they are treating the matter seriously.

"Once we are through with the investigations the Government will respond immediately," Ombati said.

The teenager is said to have joined the terror group while he was a student at Jamhuri High School in Nairobi before his parents transferred him to Mukumu Boys' last year while in form two.

Another student

According to the school principal, Dennis Munyendo, the student revealed he is a member of Al-Shabaab claiming his life is in danger because other members of the group want to kill him.

"Initially I tried to inquire from him if he was a member of the terror group but he denied saying he refused plans by his friends who wanted him to join the group. But last week he disclosed to us that he is a member claiming his life is in danger," said Munyendo.

Munyendo became suspicious of Lumumba when the school admitted another student Bari Indimuli from Jamhuri High School whom Lumumba said knows well and is a member of Al-Shabaab.

Indimuli disappeared from the school last month and his whereabouts are not known.

"He told his teachers that he knows Bari claiming he is a member of Al-Shabaab, we did investigations to establish the truth but Bari has left the school and we do not know where he is," he said.

He said Lumumba informed him that his life is in danger because they stabbed to death another member of the terror group who had earlier killed his friends and dumped their bodies in Ngong' Forest during the April holidays.

"Lumumba told his teachers that his life is in danger, this prompted me to interrogate him to get more information. He told me that other Al-Shabaab members are looking for him to kill him because he also murdered one of their members," he said.

"Other members of the group had known that they killed their colleagues  and they are after them, they have already killed his other accomplices and had vowed to get and kill him,"

Mr Munyendo said the student also alleged to have been planning to execute attacks against christian students in the school.

"He alleged that they were waiting for other members of the group from Somalia to help them execute attacks in the school targeting christian students," he said.

Last week, upon receiving the distraught information, Lumumba's father who is a Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) officer took his son for psychological counselling.

But his son maintained that he is a member of the terror group after he returned to the school forcing the school administration to inform the intelligence services who later sent Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers and Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) officers to investigate the matter.

The officers took Lumumba to Kakamega police station for interrogations and further investigations.

"His father took him home for counseling but the boy maintained that he is a member of the group after returning back to the school.We informed intelligence officers took him to the police station for interrogation," Munyendo said.