Six Kenyan Politicians Arrested Over 'Mass Grave' Comments; Later Released

Kenyan senator Billow Kerrow (Image credits: BBC)

Six politicians from Kenya's north-eastern Mandera county have been arrested over comments they have made about the alleged discovery of a mass grave. A woman's body was discovered on Monday and residents fear there could be more in the area. 

On Tuesday, police obtained a court order to exhume bodies from the unmarked graves.

BBC Africa Live report continues:

Local leaders from the predominantly ethnic Somali region are accusing security agents of killing terror suspects and dumping them in mass graves.

Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow spent some time at CID headquarters in Nairobi for questioning. Five other MPs from the country have also been detained for making "unnecessary" and "alarming" remarks.

On Tuesday, police obtained a court order to exhume bodies from the unmarked graves.

Kenyan senator Billow Kerrow and five other MPs have been released after six hours of interrogation about their remarks about mass graves in north-eastern Mandera county.

They had accused security agents of killing terror suspects and dumping them.

But Kenya's interior minister said they had created "unnecessary alarm and fear" with their "outlandish and unsubstantiated allegations" as 15 sites had been exhumed this week and no bodies were found.

Mr Kerrow said the politicians - from the mainly ethnic Somali region - had withdrawn their sentiments following this fact-finding mission.

But the MPs maintained that they would not be cowed by government's threat to arrest them as they were elected to serve their people.

They demanded that the whereabouts be revealed of those arrested by people believed to be police officers.

And they also said security in the region, which borders Somalia, should be improved.

Joseph Nkaissery said no mass graves had been found in Mandera or elsewhere (AFP)

'No Mass Graves' Found In Kenya

Kenya's Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said no mass graves have been discovered in Mandera after 15 sites were exhumed. He said the country had been "treated to unnecessary alarm and fear following outlandish and unsubstantiated allegations by Senator Billow Kerrow and other senior politicians of existence of mass graves in Mandera county".

"The claim is that any person found dead is assumed to have been killed by a security agent. This is not only unacceptable but outrageous. Further, in Mandera we have experienced continuous and fierce inter and intra-clan clashes and conflicts."

The minister demanded that "any leader that made the sensational statements and allegations about the existence of mass graves retract in full and apologise to the nation for their alarmist statements".