11 Somali nationals in court for entering country illegally

11 Somali nationals were arraigned in a Garissa court and charged with being in the country illegally.

The 11, who included 2 women and 9 men, appeared before Chief Magistrate Margaret Wachira and charged with being in the country unlawfully and without any legal documents.

The aliens were arrested at Qabobey area within Garissa County by the Anti Terror Police Unit (ATPU) hiding in a bush near a water pan after their Toyota probox broke down.

The driver of the vehicle managed to escape.

The prosecution told the court that the accused were travelling from Liboi to Nairobi through Garissa town.

On being interrogated, the 11 said they wanted to travel to Nairobi and had no intention of registering as asylum seekers.

They were arrested 90KMs from Dadaab town where asylum seekers normally register when they enter the country from war-torn Somalia.

In their mitigation, they said they were duped by Kenyan accomplices whom they paid Ksh 40,000 each to cover ‘transportation to Nairobi’.

They were released on a Ksh 50,000 fine or six months imprisonment before they are repatriated to Somalia.

Cases of illegal immigrants in the country have continued to be reported despite roadblocks by the police and the popularization of the Nyumba Kumi Initiative.

Early this month, police in Embu arrested 27 Ethiopian aliens from Ethiopia who were being ferried in three private cars to Nairobi and later to South Africa, only a day after four others were nabbed in Isiolo.

According to Embu County Commander Karisa Roba, police were tipped off by members of the public about four suspicious Probox cars driving at very high-speed along the Meru – Embu Highway.

Roba said police laid an ambush in Embu Town and upon seeing police vehicles; the drivers diverted and instead drove into the Njukiri Forest.

This comes as the security department in Kenya hastens fight on terrorism with rampant raids and arrests of illegal immigrants living in Kenya in efforts to curb the terrorism menace.