Laban Cliff Onserio, the Standard Group chief of staff has been arraigned in court today over illegal possession of an explosive device.
Laban was arrested on Sunday, December 18, by law enforcers who were acting on a tip-off from security guards, who reported that he was threatening the public with the grenade.
According to the guards, Onserio had parked his car at Nairobi’s Holy Family Basilica floor 2 and had come in the morning to pick it up when an altercation ensued between him and some members of the public on the third floor where he made the threats.
Police later responded and searched his car, where they found the device, which DCI alleges the journalist failed to give satisfactory reasons on why he was in its possession.
When he was arraigned on Monday, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) sought to have Onserio detained for five more days to give the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) more time to conduct investigations on Onserio’s terror links.
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According to court documents seen by The SharpDaily, the DCI alleged that it was illegal for Onserio to possess the explosive without notifying security personnel about it.
“The respondent was arrested by a multi-agency team who responded at the scene after receiving information about a terror threat,” read part of the report.
“He had not made a declaration to the security guards that he was in possession of the Flashbang training system grenade,”
The report also noted that the explosive had been forwarded to bomb experts for more analysis.
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“The explosive device recovered has been forwarded to the Bomb disposal and hazardous unit to be forensically examined and reports are yet to be obtained and analyzed,” said the report.
This event comes at a time when Kenyans are on high alert over possible terror attacks during this December holiday.
Last week, a confidential police letter leaked to the public from Makadara Sub-County Commander, which warned of a likelihood of witnessing attacks from Somalia-based terror group Al-Shabaab.
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