Police act swiftly on Juja Road explosive tip off

By CYRUS OMBATI

Nairobi, Kenya: There was panic at Mlango Kubwa along the busy Juja Road in Nairobi when police blocked it for several hours to search for an explosive that had allegedly been planted there.

Bomb experts used an explosive to look for the explosive that was reported to have been planted at the scene in vain.

Police said they had been tipped off that an unidentified person had planted wires into a busy wines and spirits joint along the road and planned to bomb it when it was fully packed.

This prompted bomb experts to move in swiftly with robots and other detectors to search for the said explosives.

And after almost three hours of the search, they only discovered a freshly dug place in a trench.

In order to ensure that there was no explosive in the area, the bomb experts conducted a test to see if the bomb said to have been planted would explode.

Nairobi Deputy County Commander Moses Ombati said an informer had told them he saw a man dig the area, which prompted the search.

“We could not take chances and that is why we had to use all means to ensure the place is safe,” he said.

Ombati added that the wines and spirits joint is usually busy and had it been hit, it could have caused massive damage and loss of lives.

The incident caused a huge traffic jam along the busy road as police intensified their search for more explosives in the nearby Eastleigh area.

Earlier on, a couple had been arrested and two hand grenades recovered from their house in a police swoop in Eastleigh, Nairobi that has netted more than 400 suspects.

The victims were in their house when police who had been tipped off raided it.

Police say the man identified as Sheikh Mahat Omar and aged about 55 has been supplying explosives to youths for attacks in the city and Mombasa.

Omar is said to be a spiritual leader. It is not clear where the grenades were to be used.

The raid was conducted at about 1am and the grenades were recovered inside a box in the sitting room of the second floor Medina Apartments along Kirogothi Road, police said.

Nairobi police boss Benson Kibue said the recovery was made as they arrested more than 400 more people in the ongoing operations.

“The suspects are under interrogation and most of them did not have identification documents,” said Kibue.

The operation continued up to Wednesday morning with police searching private cars that drove in and out of Eastleigh.

There were reports police were looking for more missing explosives.

No arrest has been made so far in connection with the terror attacks on a food kiosk and bus stop on Monday night that killed six people and injured more than 30 others.