Church thwarts terrorists

happened at House of God Miracle Church on the outskirts of the central business district.
“The church pastor was concluding the service with a call for worshippers to go to the altar when one per­son who had disguised him­self as a worshipper hurled a grenade on the pulpit and ran into the streets.
A few gallant worshippers pur­sued the assailant but he removed a firearm and started shooting at them before he escaped,” Police Spokesperson Eric Kiraithe described the attack.
This is the second attack target­ing worshippers in the East African nation, the first having occurred barely three weeks ago in Mom­basa.
In the incident that happened at 6:30pm on March 31, terrorists hurled explosives at a Christian prayer meeting taking place at a bus terminus in Mom­basa. At least two people died and over 25 others were injured in the explo­sion and another that hap­pened at a bar in the town on the same day.  
Kenya Police have consistently named churches among places terrorists may strike. Others include bus termini, shopping malls, entertain spots, market places and passenger services vehicles.  
As a team com­prising of officers from Kenya’s Anti-Terror Police Unit and Criminal Investi­gations Department probe the explosion, it is certain that churches and other places of worship in the East African nation remain terrorists’ soft targets.  
In Kenya, the freedom of wor­ship and association has led to mushrooming of churches.    
In the past five years, the number of evan­gelical churches in Kenya has tripled, with many terming the phenomenon as a boom of religion, similar to what happened during the colonial era when vari­ous missionary groups from Europe trooped into Kenya to spread Christianity.
However, critics have called the trend ‘church­prenuership’ and claimed that self-seekers are taking advantage of the right to worship and lack of regula­tion to fleece followers.
In Nairobi, low-income dis­tricts lead in places with high concentration of churches. A case in point is Kayole and Kawangware, Kibera and Githurai where one can count up to 15 dif­ferent churches in a radius of less than one km. 
The majority of them are made of iron sheets and have sizeable number of worshippers, both adults and children and have serv­ices that run from Saturday evening throughout Sun­day.
And that is where perhaps the security threat lies in the wake of terror attack warnings from Somali militant group Al-Shabaab, which are hang­ing over Kenya.
Terrorists are finding it easy to target the churches because a majority of them have no capacity to detect and curb terror threats.  
During serv­ices, worshippers are free to walk in and walk out of the churches without being frisked for security reasons. “Since Kenya soldiers crossed into Somalia and Al-Shabaab issued threat of attack, we have never been frisked while going into our church,” said George Obindo, a youth leader at God’s Sanctuary in Nairobi’s Eastlands. 
The church has no ability to hire private security services or buy metal detectors since it is still in its nascent stages.
“Our priest always tells us that God is our protector and there is no need to worry about threats of terror attack. We always pray for our safety and that of the nation,” said Obindi after learning of a grenade attack at House of God Miracle Church.  
Obindo said while he believes in what their pastor tells them, he fears for his life now that terrorists have started to attack places of worship. “It is certain that terrorists have no regard to sanctity and respect that should be given to churches.
Theirs is to search for places where they may find a sizeable crowd and attack as it happened in Mombasa and now in Nairobi,” he said. And the way most of the upcoming evangelical churches in Kenya are built and schedule their services poses security threats. A survey in the capital indicates that the churches are made without emergency doors.
Most of them measuring about 20 by 50 meters, they have only an entrance door, which leads one into the church and the pulpit. Worshippers then sit on benches or plastic chairs facing towards the pulpit. Therefore, it is easier for a terrorist to stand at the entrance, which is usually narrow, and hurl a grenade at the congregation.
Kenya Police last December during Christmas festivities and in April during Easter holiday advised churches against holding night vigils. Police also said they have no capacity to offer security to all churches and asked pastors to ensure safety of worshippers.
“When threats of Al-Shabaab emerged, we were asked to contribute money so that the church can hire private security personnel. We used to raise funds every Sunday. The guards worked during December, until January and left.
“Now, we rely on our own ushers who monitor everyone entering the church,” said Nairobi resident Juliet Kanyi.
Kanyi said most members of their church know each other, which is a form of security and curbs chances of being attacked. Al-Shabaab has warned that its war on Kenya will be indefinite unless the East African nation pulls out its forces from Somalia. — Xinhua.