One of the gunmen who murdered 148 people at a university in Kenya had been a Kenyan law school graduate known for his straight-A’s and his influential father – a government official – states Slate magazine.
Abdirahim Mohamed Abdullahi, who was gunned down by Kenyan security personnel alongside his three accomplices, was the son of a “chief” in Mandera County, states the Kenyan publication Standard.
Abdullahi’s father is a “chief” in Madera, a town near the Somali border, states Slate.
The Guardian explains, “chiefs are officials retained by the national authorities to solve disputes at local level and their remit includes identifying criminals.
The 24-year-old “will likely go down in history as the mass murderer with the most innocent face,” notes Kenya’s the Daily Nation.
Known as Ababmo by his classmates, he was known for his good grades as much as for his tailored suits.
“But below the nice suits and the veneer of normality was a cauldron of hatred and religious fanaticism which culminated in mass murder last week,” adds the newspaper.
The British newspaper Guardian:
“All four al-Shabaab gunmen were killed after the attack, in which they stormed the Garissa university at dawn on Thursday before lining up Christian students in their hostels and spraying them with bullets. Twenty two students who were attending morning devotion were killed after several grenades were lobbed into their makeshift chapel.
“The final death toll after the deadly rampage was given by authorities as 148, comprising mainly students between the ages of 19 and 23. Six security officers were killed trying to end the 12-hour siege.”
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