Heartbreaking last text sent by Kenyan student before she was killed by al-Shabaab

The heartbreaking last message a Kenyan student sent her boyfriend before she was murdered by al-Shabaab extremists reveals the terrifying last moments inside the besieged university campus.

A text message, believed to be sent by student Jane Akinyi from inside Garissa University College, tells her boyfriend ‘in case we don’t see each other again, just know I love you’.

A screenshot of the emotional words, written in Swahili, is being shared widely on social media as students who survived the massacre tell their harrowing stories. 

The message reads: ‘Everyone at Nancy’s cube has been shot and we’re next.

‘Where are the KDF (Kenyan defence force)? If they are there, please tell them to come, they are killing us, please tell them to come help us.’

It adds: ‘Babe, in case we don’t see each other again, just know I love you and I will always love you. Bye babe, pray for us. May God help us.’

Pictures of three dead terrorists responsible for the mass slaughter and another who was captured, have also been posted on social media. 

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who visited the survivors in Garissa today, published the images on Facebook. 

One of the terrorists attempted to sneak out of the Garissa University College campus during the 13-hour stand off between al-Shabaab and Kenyan military. He was caught by police outside the compound and taken into custody. 

The remaining terrorists were killed after Kenyan military stormed the dormitory where they murdered many of their 147 victims.

The release of the photographs comes as it emerged that the callous terrorists called the family of a girl they had just murdered using her mobile phone to ask her father to ring the Kenyan president, and order him to remove his troops from Somalia. 

Other photographs posted on Twitter claimed to show victims of the massacre, murdered in a classroom, and another shocking image depicting about 100 bodies lying face down in a courtyard.

Fred Musinai said his daughter phoned him early yesterday morning to tell him about the attack, and at 1pm, he received another call from her handset. 

The caller told Mr Musinai that his 21-year-old daughter, who was studying teaching, had just been murdered and urged him to pass on a message to the Kenyan president. 

Mr Musinai told The Star newspaper in Kenya: ‘The caller said the Kenya Defence Forces has killed their children, women and the elderly in Somalia and the attack was a revenge mission.

‘The caller was using my daughter’s phone and at 1pm they called again and insisted I should pass the information to President Kenyatta.’

Mr Musinai asked the terrorist to pass the handset over to his daughter, but he replied: ‘She is already gone, you just pass the information to your President.

‘It was so traumatising for us as a family and we pray that God will liberate us from these terrorists.’

The gunmen, who killed 147 people in Kenya’s worst terrorist attack since 1998, ordered people to recite verses from the Koran at gunpoint to avoid being shot. They also told women they were safe before gunning them down.

The men shouted ‘God is great’ as they shot and killed the unarmed civilians.

Reuben Mwavita saw three female students murdered in front of him. He said the gunmen forced them onto their knees and started to interrogate them. 

He said: ‘The mistake they made was to say “Jesus, please save us”, because that is when they were immediately shot.’ 

Susan Kitoko, who broke her hip after jumping from a window to avoid the gunmen, said: ‘I was confused, I was terrified and was shaking, but I was not screaming and that is what saved me.
‘The attackers were just in the next room, I heard them ask people whether they were Christian or Muslim, then I heard gunshots and screams.’

Tony Otiende and his friends also managed to escape through a window.
‘There were many gunshots mixed with screams,’ he said. ‘I heard men shouting saying: “We are al Shabaab, we are al Shabaab, we have paid you a visit tonight”… Four of us in our cube ran and jumped through the window from the first floor and went through the barbed wire fence.’

Kenneth Luzakula was standing at the back of the Christian prayer meeting when two gunmen burst into the room.

He told Reuters: ‘They killed all my friends. I was praying with them when we heard gun shots and two guys who wore hoods and carried long guns came in.

‘I escaped because I was standing next to the rear door, so I dashed out with one other friend.
‘I could hear my friends still praying loudly and calling the name of Jesus Christ. Others were screaming.
‘I heard gunshots repeatedly from the toilet nearby where we had hidden. They killed my friends but I know they are all in heaven, because they died because they died worshipping God.’

Mr Luzakula said more than 20 of his friends were murdered in the attack.

Student Elosy Karimi crawled into a space above her bunk into a gap in the roof and hid from the gunmen.
She said she heard the killers call for her friends to leave their rooms or else they would be killed.

According to Ms Karimi they yelled: ‘If you want to survive, come out. If you want to die, stay inside.’
She added: ‘I knew those guys were lying.’

Following yesterday’s massacre, Kenyan troops have been deployed on the streets of Garissa, patrolling the university and preventing any further attacks on soft targets such as the hospital.

A curfew has been imposed on the town and surrounding areas from dusk until dawn in an effort to prevent the terrorists from moving freely.