Police are holding 18 Somali Muslim ladies among them six US nationals after a raid at Madrasa at Mackinnon Road, Kwale county.
Acting on a tip of by an insider, police from Taru police Station assisted by GSU officers from Mackinnon Road raided Madrasa Al Banat and arrested the 18 on Friday morning. All of them are teenagers except two.
Mackinnon Road town is located along Mombasa-Nairobi highway, Kinango subcounty and hosts famous Banghali Shah Mosque Mosque.
They have been held at the facility for unknown duration despite coronavirus rules against gatherings.
Kinango subcounty police commander Fredrick Ombaka said one woman called an outsider who in turn informed the officers about their confinement.
Six teenagers have been identified as Meimun Ali ,16, Nimo Issack, 15, Rahman Issack Abdinoor, 18, Hafsa Issack Abdinoor, 17, Sumea Yusuf, 19 and Fatima Ibrahim Hussein aged 17.
Three arrived at the facility in 2019, two in 2018 and one in March this year, Ombaka said.
“They were brought by their relatives to the facility to attend Madrasa Islamic classes against their wishes,” the police report read in part, raising suspicion of kidnapping.
Others in custody are 12 Somali ladies of Kenyan origin.