Detectives from the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) on Sunday arrested Standard Group’s Chief of Staff Laban Cliff Onserio for being in possession of a grenade and threatening to attack using it.
Onserio is a former Deputy Director of Communications at State House’s Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) and also worked at NTV.
He was arrested on Sunday morning at Nairobi’s Holy Family Basilica basement (2) by detectives after a grenade was found in his car by police who had been called in by the church’s guards to respond to an altercation that involved him.
The church runs a commercial parking facility that is manned by a private security company.
The guards said Onserio had parked his car at the facility to attend the Solfest Music Festival at the nearby KICC on Saturday night and only came to pick it up on Sunday morning while visibly drunk.
“His car was parked at level two, but he went up to level three where he started harassing a woman who was in the company of other people.”
“An altercation ensued and he started telling them that he is a soldier from the British Army hence was armed and untouchable,” one of the guards who was on duty at the time said.
The guards called the police who took over the case and conducted a search at his car, a Nissan X-trail and recovered a stun grenade, a pocket phone model GA-25 and two I-phones, police said.
They then called in detectives from ATPU who took over the case and detained him pending his arraignment in court.
He was produced in court on Monday where police sought to detain him for five days.
Police said Onserio could not give satisfactory reasons why he was in possession of the flash bang grenade and neither produce a certificate allowing him to be in possession of the said explosive device.
In affidavit filed at the Kahawa anti-terror court police said the suspect told detectives that he acquired the grenade from a British national, Mr Don Smith said to be currently working with Fly 540.
The officers were also seeking for a search warrant as they believe he could be in possession of more grenades.
The detectives also want time to conduct a forensic examination of the gadgets before they charge him with the appropriate charges.
The officers also visited the Standard Group offices on Mombasa Road as part of the probe.
It is not clear what motive he had to buy the explosives.
