Horror as hoax SMS sent by Garissa Attack victim turns prophetic

A hoax text message sent by one of the Garissa terror attack victims on April Fools’ Day turned out to be prophetic, her sister has said.

Winnie Mandela said she received an SMS from her younger sister Annetor Oliech, a student at Garissa University College, saying the institution had been raided by terrorists.

Winnie said Annetor wrote that attackers had surrounded students and were hurling grenades.

Annetor said she was safe and in class for morning preps.

Winnie was speaking during Annetor’s burial in Lwak village, Rarieda constituency, on Wednesday.

Annetor was killed in the April 2 al Shabaab attack on her university.

Mandela said she ignored her sister’s plea not to share the SMS with anyone and forwarded it to their elder brother.

The next day she woke up to the news of the attack.

“It is as if my sister had a premonition on her death since what was contained in the SMS was a replica of the day’s events,” Mandela said.

Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo said he was saddening by the loss of a young life.

The Star