MANDERA: Abducted Chiefs Abandoned With Local Elders Left For Negotiations
The local community is now responsible for freeing five chiefs who were seized by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera on February 3.
This has emerged despite the fact that President William Ruto when in Mandera, directed Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli to lead the rescue mission.
SUSPECTED TERRORISTS ARRESTED IN MANDERA
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) February 18, 2025
Anti-terrorism police in Mandera East have arrested two suspected Al Shabaab operatives, who had planned the abduction of a team of foreign nationals working at a sewer line construction site within Mandera township.
Acting on… pic.twitter.com/tQvNwwPj9r
“The community is negotiating for their release and the government has no role in that initiative because we do not negotiate with terrorists,” Mr Ochako said.
It’s gone three weeks, and the security services have done little to find the five chiefs.
“We have yet to locate our chiefs,” Mandera County Commissioner Henry Ochako stated when contacted.
Chiefs in captivity include Adawa Abdi Mohmed, Mohamed Hassan Kulumia, Mohmednur Hache, Abdi Hassan Suraw, and Ibrahim Gabow.
According to Mr Ochako, the local community is working with militants to release the chiefs.
According to Mr Ochako, security authorities are working to secure the border with Somalia.
Relatives of the missing chiefs regard the government’s inaction on the issue as a betrayal of its officers, who were dedicated to their jobs.
“Some of them were suffering from diabetes and blood pressure. Their current health situation is unknown since they don’t get medicine for their conditions,” another close relative said.
He added: “The government that these chiefs served has since gone mute. We have been left to find our relatives by our means.”
DIG Masengeli could not be reached; phone calls to him went unanswered.
However, Mr Micheal Muchiri, the police spokesperson, stated that his boss was working with the Interior and Foreign Affairs ministries to get the chiefs back in Mandera.
He added that local elders in Jilib play a vital role in convincing militants to come to the bargaining table.
“It will take some time because our team must find a local team for them to be able to start talks. We are optimistic something will come out of the talks,” he said.
Families in the Wargadud area, where the five chiefs served, said the victims were unwell.
“We shall know the captors’ terms to release our relatives after our elders have met them. The only money our elders have is for their upkeep inside Somalia,” he added.
He stated that it was too early to determine how much the captors would demand or how much money would be required to free the five.
“The suspect that escaped from police cells in Elwak was not directly linked to the abduction of the chiefs but security officers were holding him for interrogation,” Mr Ochako said.
The chiefs were immediately abducted, and security forces apprehended a suspect linked to terror incidents in Mandera, who later escaped from Elwak Police cells.
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Two police officers from Elwak Police Station have recently been charged with helping a prisoner’s escape.
The Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) had been granted permission by Mandera Law Courts to interrogate the suspect before he fled.
“I am here with Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli and I have instructed him to make sure we get back those chiefs,” President Ruto told a crowd at Moi Stadium in Mandera town on February 4, 2025.
He continued, “East or west, we must solve this issue because we have significantly downgraded the ability of the al-Shabaab to unleash violence on the people of northern Kenya.”
MANDERA: Abducted Chiefs Abandoned With Local Elders Left For Negotiations
