Detonate colonial bombs to avert deaths, Wajir leaders urge state

Leaders from Wajir are urging state agencies to send bomb experts to areas that were used as military bases by colonialists.

Their call comes barely a week after two children and their mother got injured by a colonial bomb.

The victims were using the bomb to set up a three-stone fire for cooking.

The leaders, led by Governor Ahmed Muktar, said many innocent lives have been lost after coming into contact with the bombs.

The governor spoke on Tuesday at the Wajir County Referral Hospital while visiting the three victims.

Muktar said the risks of losing more lives is getting relatively high .

“There are so many unexploded bombs in the county. This is not the first time, we are losing innocent lives as others sustain serious injuries. This situation must be addressed urgently,” he said.

Muktar said the government should move with speed and have a special force comb the most affected areas and detonate the bombs.

He also called for enhanced foot patrol by the officers saying the al Shabaab militants were mostly going on foot when carrying out attacks and planting IEDs.

Elnur/Tulatula MCA Abdullahi Issack said many pastoralists do not understand what those deadly objects are. 

He said they end up picking them out of curiosity, only for them to explode and either kill or injure them.

“We urge our security teams to act fast lest we continue losing lives. They are the only ones who can deal with these issues. As leaders there is very little we can do,” Issack said.

Northeastern regional commissioner James Kianda while speaking to the press separately acknowledged the concerns of the leaders.

“We shall sieve through the information and see what can help us as a security team. The bottom line is that we don’t want to continue losing lives or having people injured through accidents that can be avoided,” he said.

Kianda further advised residents to avoid picking objects which they are not sure of and instead call the police when they come across them.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)