Police officers at the scene of Monday's bomb attack in Nairobi/FILE
According to recent reports, the buildings most likely to be targeted include those housing hotels especially those frequented by westerners, government offices, media and prominent corporations.
Speaking to Capital FM News, NCBDA chairman Timothy Muriuki said there needs to be 24-hour vigilance around the high risk buildings to stem off any attack that may occur.
“We definitely must have armed guards around buildings because we cannot also rule out the possibility of armed attacks so as to penetrate the buildings. Armed police should be deployed especially to those areas which are high risk. Let us also do a proper risk assessment and then station armed policemen in those buildings which are considered to be high risk,” he said.
He also pointed out that Kenya’s airspace should be guarded so that terrorists do not use aircrafts to bring down buildings.
“We must take our air space very seriously and I am calling upon the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and our Air Force to consider surveillance in our air space more seriously and guarding our airports very seriously especially the Wilson Airport because air strikes are also a huge possibility as they have talked about bringing down skyscrapers,” he stated.
He further underscored the need for vigilance by everyone in a bid to reduce the likelihood of an attack.
“The Al-Shabaab have said they will specifically target buildings housing westerners especially skyscrapers. However, let us not also forget that they can say that and also now target other single storey and double storey buildings. So, let us not just concentrate on the skyscrapers because it may be their way of duping us. It is important for us to note that there is also a high possibility of them targeting other areas,” he said.
Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe in the meantime stated that security has been enhanced in all areas to safeguard the country against terror threats.
He explained that all vital installations and the border points are secure.
He called on the public to work closely with the police and provide any crucial information about any impending threat.
He further cautioned everyone to be alert at all times.
According to a US-based private intelligence firm IntelCenter, the militant group has warned Kenyans that the country “will weep two weeks from now.”
The group has in the past months threatened to bring down Kenya’s “tall glass buildings” after Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia last October following a spate of attacks and abductions in its territory that it blamed on the militants.
The extremist group is suspected of carrying out a May 28 attack on a Nairobi building housing clothing retail stores that killed one person and injured more than 30 others.
Al-Shabaab insurgents have launched a spate of attacks in Kenya, mainly using grenades and it is believed that these are building up to a larger attack over the next six months.
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