Police arrest four suspects in Nairobi twin blasts

By CYRUS OMBATI and FRED MAKANA

NAIROBI, KENYA:  Four suspects have been arrested in connection with Sunday’s explosion along the Thika Superhighway.

Nairobi County Commander Benson Kibue on Wednesday confirmed that the four suspects are in police custody and will soon be arraigned in court to face charges of terrorism.

“We are holding four suspects in custody who have been positively identified in connection with the two blasts along the superhighway and they are set to appear in court any time once investigations are complete,” Kibue said.

Mr Kibue also said that the police will continue to take stern action against matatu crew who fail to screen their passengers adding that even the bus owners would face similar charges for failure to frisk passengers. 

Mr Kibue said police will not relent in the war against terror and asked all Public Service Vehicles to screen all passengers and their goods before they board vehicles at any stage they pick passengers from.

Police boss David Kimaiyo urged that the detectives handling the case be given more time to finish their work.

“All we know is that the blasts were caused by Improvised Explosive Devices and so far our officers are following crucial leads,” he said.

It is not clear if the suspect in custody has any connection with the blasts for now.

Many other similar attacks in the city remain unsolved. One of the ill-fated buses was ferrying passengers from the Central Business District to Githurai 45 and the other one to Mwiki in Kasarani before the Sunday blasts.

Following the blasts, five members of the buses' crew were charged at the Makadara law courts with failure to prevent murder.