Al-Shabaab Threat – Heed Iteere’s Caution

23 April 2011

editorial

Nairobi — Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere issued an extraordinary alert a week ago about the methods now adopted by Al-Shabaab — the group fighting the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.

The Police Commissioner warned parents that recruiters in Kenya were now targeting children and luring them with money after which they are driven to go and fight against Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

A week later, Mr Iteere was back on the microphones, this time asking Kenyans to be on the lookout.

Mr Iteere and his officers had information that the rag tag Al-Shabaab group was planning to strike during the festive season.

The group’s threats managed to dampen the spirit of the Easter weekend at least in some sections of Nairobi and Mombasa.

It is one thing to be attacked by foreigners. But it’s quite another when Kenyan children are trained in Somalia and released to cause havoc in their own country.

We urge parents to take seriously the caution on children issued by Mr Iteere. Some parents are said by police to have given away their children in the mistaken belief that they were helping a religious cause.

Other children have walked away from their families and country on the promise of great incomes as rag tag fighters in the neighbouring country.

According to anti-terrorism agents, the promise of big money is hollow. The recruits become captives as soon as they cross the border and are only provided with sufficient sustenance to help with the fighting. There’s no reward for their labour. Those who try to escape are tortured or killed.

In might also help the parents who might think of signing away their children’s future to ponder why none of the recruiters is joining what they propagate as a holy cause.

Kenyans should jealously guard their nationhood and parents, as urged by Mr Iteere, must watch their children more carefully to ensure that they do not fall into extremist ideologies or fall to the fake promises of non-existent monetary rewards.

And kudos to Mr Iteere and his officers as well as the military personnel who have been on high alert and who have been working to neutralize threats so that Kenyans can enjoy their Easter festivities and other routines in peace.

AllAfrica – All the Time