www.the-star.co.ke/news/...ted-quarry-several-timesC&P
A survivor of the Tuesday Mandera massacre by the al
Shabaab has said the militiamen routinely visited the camp
before the attack.
Fifty-seven-year old Erick Taabu Mujivi, who has worked at
the quarry for the last four and a half years, told the Star on
Wednesday that the attackers are well known as shifters.
Mujivi said the militiamen made impromptu visits to the
quarry and shot several times in the air while they watched.
"For the four and half years I have lived in Mandera we have
had a few challenges with the shifters but soon we got used
to them and took it as part of life. They could come in, shoot,
take food and order us to give them money and later leave
without harming us," he said.
Mujivi said over 20 attackers, heavily armed with knives and
AK 47 rifles, stormed the camp at around 1 am and
surrounded them.
"Each one of us was told to take the Quran and recite it, then
if anybody refused or if anybody did not know how to recite it,
they would shoot you without caring much and tell you that
even your God cannot help you," he said.
He said three of his colleagues tried to negotiate with the
killers but an argument ensued leading to their execution.
He said he and five others escaped by crawling through a
nearby trench and jumping over a cliff amid the commotion.
Mujivi said he saw manyattas used by the militia group as
hide-outs at a border.
"If the government intends to win this war, let it pull down all
the manyattas on the border as the militia mix up with local
residents in the area making it hard for police to identify
them," he said.