Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of Kilifi Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official Aisha Abubakar on January 5.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), several exhibits linking the suspects to the crime were recovered, including phones belonging to Abubakar’s son.
The three were apprehended from different hiding spots in the Coastal Region following a coordinated law enforcement operation backed by the Operation Support Unit (OSU) and the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau.
This comes just over a week after Aisha was murdered in a suspected robbery that turned fatal at her Kilifi home.
A collage of IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein and slain IEBC official Aisha Akinyi. PHOTO/ Courtesy
At around 3 am on January 5, two armed assailants broke into the deceased’s Utange home through a kitchen window.
”They gained access to the house by cutting the grills of the kitchen window while armed with a crowbar and knife,” a report by the police read in part.
They went on to knock out Abubakar’s son before stabbing her to death despite pleas to spare her life.
The attackers then made away with several valuables including two Samsung phones, an iPad, a 65-inch TV set, a sound system, and ATM cards whose PINs they had demanded.
Efforts by concerned neighbours to rush her to the hospital bore no fruit as she was declared dead on arrival at Premier Hospital in Nyali.
Speaking to the media after the murder, her family revealed that although not much was stolen, some documents belonging to the IEBC were taken.
“They didn’t steal much, just a TV set, and tore an IEBC bag, stole the documents that were inside, then left the bag on the floor and left,” Abubakar’s brother narrated.
Her son, Abubakar Hassan, who was also hurt in the robbery, speculated that the primary objective of the intruders was to kill his mother.
“Whatever has happened has happened. My mom was attacked while at her home in Utange, and from the look of things, the aim was to finish her, and they have succeeded,” he said.
Investigations are still ongoing to determine their motive.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials conducting an election at Fruits Academy in Nakuru on Saturday, February 4, 2023.
Daily Nation
