- The identities of the people who were to pick them is part of what police want to establish.
- Their interception happened about eight kilometers from their intended destination of Kalamba.
Two damaged mobile phones recovered from near the scene where three escaped terrorists were arrested hold the key to how they planned Kamiti jailbreak.
This includes information on how the terrorists got money to enable their movements from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison to Kamuluyuni village in Kitui county.
The mobile phones data will also tell how Musharraf Abdalla, Joseph Juma Odhiambo and Mohammed Ali Abikar moved from the city.
Reports suggest they had “a lot” money before they were captured on Thursday as they sought direction to Boni Forest, Lamu county.
And police believe the three were in communication with unknown men who were waiting to pick them up in Masalani, a few kilometers away from where they were caught.
The identities of the people who were to pick them is part of what police want to establish.
“We understand there are people who were to pick them a few kilometers away from where they were caught and facilitate them to Somalia,” said an official aware of the probe.
Their interception happened about eight kilometers from their intended destination of Kalamba where herders from Garissa and Wajir counties flock for pasture.
Multiagency teams are involved in the probe to establish how the terror network is still active even in prison where officials say radicalism is a problem.
Two mobile phones belonging to the terrorists were recovered in a thicket in Mutanda, Nuu, Kitui county.
The two damaged phones had been thrown in the thicket alongside a piece of paper with numbers written of self and wife, which indicates the terrorists may have been handed the gadgets as they left jail.
Police are analyzing the exhibits for further information.
Preliminary findings show the three were facilitated with a private car from Kamiti to Machakos county after which they were left to use public service vehicles to Kitui then Endau in Mwingi East.
The three have told police they were facilitated by people they do not know.
From Endau they hired motorbikes. The terrorists said they feared using the main road from Nairobi to Garissa because it had heavy security.
The shopping centres where they landed are so small that a stranger can be noticed.
This forced them to walk on the roadsides as they sought directions to Boni Forest, bought bread and milk for their supper.
On Wednesday afternoon, thirst struck and Musharraf was sent to a watering point where he came across a woman who identified him.
The woman with others notified administrators who had already gotten wind of their presence.
On Thursday morning, chiefs and assistants and Kenya Police Reservists were mobilized to a major operation to track the trio down.
The three claimed they were there for charcoal burning and that Abikar was their boss.
One said he was from Turkana county when a local official demanded their identification documents. They were handcuffed and driven to a local shopping centre as they sought to be freed at a fee.
The three are expected in court Monday morning to face fresh charges of escaping from lawful custody and intending to join a terrorist group.
Also expected in court are six prison wardens who are part of 13 who are in custody over the escape.
The escape led to major changes in Kenya Prisons. On Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta sacked Wycliffe Ogalo as the Commissioner General of the Kenya Prisons Service.
Uhuru appointed and witnessed the swearing-in of Ogalo’s successor, Brigadier (Rtd) John Kibaso Warioba.
The head of state made the decision on the back of a briefing from the ministry responsible for correctional services regarding the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison escape.
“The briefing noted the compelling public interest in the matter and the need to entrench accountability in the ranks of the leadership of all security organs; in honour of the many Kenyans who have lost their lives and the enormous sacrifices made by all Kenyans and particularly the security organs to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat terror networks,” a State House statement said.
Uhuru urged all sate investigative agencies to bring every person found to have been involved in the prison break to full account.
The President further directed the State Department of Correctional Services to begin disciplinary action against all prisons staff who were on duty when the security breach occurred.
Edited by Henry Makori