The Al Shabaab menace has been rocking the nerves of government and have been tirelessly tried to figure out the puzzle.
The militants relies on recruiting the youths and young boys as young as 5 to join the militia group.
Initially made up of Somali origins,the group has in the past changed tacts and opts to recruit those of other origins including Kenyans.
Such good example is self confessed terrorist Bwire who was responsible for the grenade attacks at the bus stations in Nairobi last year. Bwire is a Kenyan and from the Luhya community. This is a direct opposite of the stereotypic thoughts of Somalis being the only Al Shabaab.
The westgate attack is also reported to have been headlined by a Kenyan who also happened to be a special forces officer
How do these people end up getting trained and better yet how do they get recruited into the militia group. Nairobi Exposed extensively conducted a research to establish the main actors in this course and how the initiation is conducted.
The channel of network trickles down from the radical clerics who persuade the youths mostly new Muslim converts who are out and rearing to prove themselves. The clerics in their twisted interpretations of the Quran sweet talk the young men into joining the militia group promising heaven on earth for those who join.
A recent investigative piece conducted by BBC unearths such radical clerics like the slain Abud Rogo and his apprentice Sharif Makaburi who is currently under siege not to travel outside Mombasa and on UN security blacklist barring him from travelling to any country who is a member.
After successfully persuading the youths into joining the group,they are given the right contacts to Somalia for recruitment and initiation. All these are packaged in the pretence of "protecting the religion(Islam)"
According to a verified trail,the highly charged and rearing to go youths are told which islands they should head for, where they to stay, and who they are to contact and sail them out of isolated regions like Pate island by boats to their final destination being Somalia where the recruitment and initiation takes place.
The recruits are promised unending compensation to their families back home and promised heaven for their dedication into joining the militia but as per the testimonies of escaped militias all these are fallacies and the reality hits you up once you land in the camps.
Talking to BBC one of the youths who luckily escaped from the terror training camps,an admission incriminating one Abud Rogo was made citing how he successfully persuaded him into joining the group to become a jihad (holy warrior)
" Get used to tell us: 'Instead of sitting in the
slum doing nothing, it's better to go to
Somalia and fight for your religion, you'll go
straight to heaven." - Sheikh Abud Rogo's words as he persuaded them to join the militia groups.
The moment you reach the camps previously in Kismayo before AMISOM's takeover,the new recruits are treated to a shock and horrific warning against any escape attempt.
" I was made to watch one person being beheaded right in front of me,his hands were tied to the back,legs tied,made to kneel down before running a sharp knife into his neck,cutting off his head while were were watching,he was crying like a chicken,it was horrific scene I'll never forget"
The beheaded fellow is said to have attempted an escape from the camp something which amounts to getting beheaded,once you join the camp,that's it no getting out.
Beheading him in front of the new recruits is meant to warn and send fears against any escape attempt. Its said as young as 10 year olds or even younger ends up recruited.
Security officials admits that the radical clerics are hard to pin down since they act to the letter of the law making gathering of evidence to convict them nearly impossible.
This explains why the likes of Sheikh Makaburi are hard to convict since despite the knowledge of their influence in the triangle,conviction due to impossibility in evidence collection is hard.
The government instead has been using other measures like freezing of assets and constricting their movements as they try to contain them.
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