FRESH DETAILS: MOTHER OF KAMITI ESCAPEE REVEALS HOW HER SON BECAME A TERRORIST

The mother of one of the Kapiti escapees who were apprehended on Thursday, November 18, in Mwingi East, Kitui County, has come out to describe the behavior of his son and how he was recruited into terrorism.

According to Zuwena Hamisi, a resident of Bomanyi village in Mumias East, and the mother to Musharaf Abdalla also known as Alex Shikanda alias Zarkarawi, her son was a good kid, very understanding and passionate about religion.

He was brought up in the rural village of Bomanyi from where his desire to deeply understand and pursue Islamic religion grew.

His father’s death forced him to drop out of school while in standard five. The family’s life was so challenging as they could not raise any school fees and at times went without food.

However, things took the wrong turn when Musharaf escaped from home. At that time, he was only 14 years old. The mother, Zuwena Hamisi, would find him after three months of intensive search. Musharaf informed her that he had decided to advance his education on the Islamic religion in Kilifi County.

“Musharaf was learning religion, he came back and joined a local school here in Mumias before he fled home,” she stated.

According to Musharaf’s stepmother, she only learnt of their son’s whereabouts when she heard that he was arrested on terrorism-related charges.

Musharaf was arrested on September 30, 2012, over his role in a foiled terror attack targeting Parliament Buildings. He was charged with possession of explosives, ammunition, and firearms.

He was jailed for 22 years after being found guilty of planning to blow up Parliament building.

Musharaf’s mother has, however, pleaded with the government over her son’s fate. She asked the government to forgive him for escaping from Kamiti Maximum Prison.

“I pray that God gives him patience regarding what he did, I also hope that the government will help him and even forgive him for what he did,” she pleaded.

Despite not seeing her son for five years now, she remains optimistic that she will get to see him when he completes his jail term.

Meanwhile, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i made it clear that the three will be charged afresh for escaping from the prison.

Musharaf was nabbed together with Mohammed Ali Abikar and Joseph Juma Odhiambo alias Yusuf, the trio that had escaped from the country’s most guarded prison on Sunday, November 14.

Source: Kenyans