Dusit D2 Al-Shabaab attack investigator collapses, dies at airport in Nairobi

NAIROBI, Kenya - A top sleuth attached to Kenya's Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) collapsed and died at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Saturday.

Chief Inspector Monica Wambui was the lead investigator in Dusit D2 Hotel's Al-Shabaab attack in which at least 27 people died in January this year.

Reports from the airport indicate the top cop had completed a course in Japan and was on her way to Kenya. She used Ethiopian airlines.

At Dubai where the plane passed by, police said, Wambui complained of chest pains. She was treated and subsequently allowed to fly to the country.

Upon arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, she vomited and was rushed to a clinic within the facility where she was pronounced dead, police said.

“She started complaining of dizziness and chest pains, she then started vomiting and was attended at Port Health Clinic, but unfortunately she passed on,” part of the report read.

So devastating is her death that the state could struggle in completing prosecution of dozens of people linked to the Al-Shabaab terror attack at Dusit D2.

On Monday (Today] an autopsy will be executed on her to determine the cause of her unprecedented death. She had been in police service for a couple of years.

Previously, she told a court how one of the suspects in custody over the terror attack received Sh9 million from South Africa and the same was withdrawn through M-Pesa and later through Diamond Trust Bank, Eastleigh Branch.

Police suspect the money was for financing terrorism within the country. She added that the suspect registered 47 Sim Cards using different identity cards and names.

The Sim Cards were all used in two handsets which were all geo-located within Eastleigh area, Nairobi.

She had said two suspects had been in constant communication. Investigators believe that it was for the sole purpose of coordinating with the key suspect in the dusitD2 Hotel attack, Ali Salim Gichunge and his wife, Violet Kemunto Omwoyo.

Five terrorists were killed during the attack. Dozens of suspects mainly identified through call logs are currently defending themselves in court.

Dusit D2 attack was the first internal onslaught by Al-Shabaab in Nairobi after four years. The militants had last attacked in September 2014.

Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta insisted that Kenya Defense Forces troops will continue serving in Somalia until Al-Shabaab militants are crushed.

Kenya has completed several convictions against terror suspects with the police playing a key role in investigations and subsequent prosecutions.

GAROWE ONLINE