Some of the children who were taken into police custody at the Coast Regional Police Headquarters following a raid on a madrasa in Likoni. [Photo/ capitalfm.co.ke]
The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya treasurer Sheikh Hassan Omar has condemned the coordinated raid on a madrasa in Likoni by international and local security officers.
Speaking on Tuesday outside the madrasa after the raid, Omar said that the parents’ of the children who were found in the madrasa are still waiting to be told why their children were taken into custody.
“We condemn the action where some local and international police officers come here in the morning, picked and harassed our children without any reason. Teachers have been arrested and these parents here are waiting for their children, we are waiting to be told what went wrong,” said Sheikh Omar.
The Muslim cleric said it was surprising that foreign security forces can come into an independent country such as Kenya to harass local residents.
“Muslim children learn Quran and that’s a fact. We know Kenya is an independent country, therefore a foreign police coming here to arrest our people is not justice,” said Sheikh Omar.
Detectives from Kenya together with their counterparts from America’s FBI department and UK’s Scotland Yard on Tuesday raided a madrasa in Likoni over reports that the Islamic school was allegedly operating a terror cell.
More than 90 children said to be from different countries including US, UK, Canada, South Africa, Saudia Arabia, Somalia, Zambia, Uganda, and Kenya were taken into police custody.
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