Policeman killed in Wajir's Al-Shabaab attack planned to wed on January 2, 2020

NAIROBI, Kenya - At least 5KM North of Eldoret town in Rift Valley region, a family is yet to come to terms following the death of one of their kin who succumbed to bullet wounds.

Just one year into service, master Wesley Kipkirui, 25, had his life terminated in a deadly terror attack on December 6th in Kutulo, Wajir County.

His fiancee Abigail Jelimo, with whom he had planned to walk down the aisle, remains confused, trying to come to terms with a sad reality.

The two had scheduled for a wedding on January 2nd, a day after the new year in Kenya. The day now remains just but a fiction to Abigail.

On December 3, Kipkirui left Eldoret for his work station. With Mandera being several miles from his native, he had to spend most hours traveling.

"We talked on the phone several times as he (Kipkurui) traveled by bus to Mandera, but some time in the evening his phone went off and I became worried,” Jelimo told reporters on Saturday in Soy, Eldoret.

And now, instead of planning for the wedding, the family is preparing for Kipkirui's send-off, which will be spearheaded by the police.

“I lack words to express what I feel right now. I still believe he is just missing and will show up and we proceed with our plans,” she says.

Melancholically, the young officer attached to the Anti-Stock Theft Unit had only stayed in the force just for a year. He had joined training in 2017.

Sarah Birgen, Kipkurui’s mother, said she was with her son three days before the attack.

“We parted on Tuesday (December 3) and I wished him a safe journey back to Wajir. Since then, I never called him. But on Saturday, I asked one of his brothers to call to find out whether he arrived safely, but I was told his phone was off,” a devastated Sarah said.

Al-Shabaab militants flagged down the Medina bus near the Kutulo area before secluding occupants to locals and non-locals.

GAROWE ONLINE