Wajir chief shot dead by suspected Al Shabaab militiamen
Unknown number of gunmen suspected to be members of Al-Shabaab on Saturday night shot and killed a chief in the Wajir town.
Confirming the incident on phone, the Wajir county police Commander Samuel Mukindia said Mohamed Bare Abdullahi, a chief of Erib location in Wajir South sub-County was shot dead by armed men who accosted him on his way from a local Mosque where he went for evening prayers.
The police commander, who described the administrator as a dedicated civil servant, said the chief was shot about 500m from the mosque where he had his last prayer.
“The attackers followed him from behind until he was some short distance away from the mosque before opening fire. They seem to know him very well,” he said.
INVESTIGATIONS LAUNCHED
Mr Mukindia said the number of gunmen in the 8:45pm incident hasn’t been established because it was night adding that three other people, including an assistant chief, who were walking with the slain administrators were not hurt.
The county police boss said police have launched an investigation into possible circumstances that could have made the chief a target for the killers.
The Wajir County Police chief however, said the administrator was not in the list of chiefs in the county who has reported to the local security agencies on the threats to their lives from Al Shabaab their its sympathizers.
Somalia based militant, Al-Shabaab are on record for having issued threats to several local chiefs, their assistants, religious leaders and other civil servants in the Mandera, Wajir and Garissa Counties.
On 23rd April this year the militants killed chief Muktar Maalim Ibrahim of Arabia area, Mandera county after pulling him out of vehicle which was heading to Mandera.