New details have emerged regarding the Kisumu suicide bombing incident that occurred on the night of December 7, leaving 3 people dead and one another injured.
John Ondieki, alias Pope, a suspected Alshabaab militant, is said to have stormed a home in Kamloma village in Nyakach, Kisumu County, with explosives before detonating them.
However, residents who spoke to the media, stated that the suspect was on a revenge mission over a debt that the target family owed him.
Residents explained that Ondieki had sold land to his uncle before leaving the area, where the uncle was yet to clear the arrears in the region of Ksh30,000.
It is alleged that the suspect had been calling the uncle while demanding the balance and casting threats, but the family did not buy his threats.
"The main issue here has been the land. He sold land here to one of his uncles and the uncle gave him a portion and he was demanding the remaining cash," said one of the residents.
"He has been calling these guys and threatening them over the arrears," he added.
After the attack, reports also emerged that Ondieki was a wanted man for having participated in a similar attack in the same county in December 2020, where three people perished.
Petro Onyango and his wife who perished in his last attack were accosted by the suspect where an altercation is said to have ensued before the explosion occurred.
The suspect died on the spot while the couple passed on while being taken to the hospital. Their bodies have been taken to Pap Onditi funeral home.
A young daughter of the couple who was also injured by the explosive is currently admitted at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital in critical condition.
This incident comes at a time when President Kenyatta had recently called for vigilance among security officers and Kenyans, over what he termed as a volatile security situation in the region.
Another terror ploy was thwarted on November 30, 2021, after detectives arrested a 22-year-old girl in Nandi county, believed to have undergone radicalization in Somalia.
