Abducted Mandera chiefs: Local elders left to negotiate as families say victims were sickly
An aerial view of Mandera town.
What you need to know:
- It is now three weeks and little has been done by the security agencies to find the five chiefs.
- “We are yet to find our chiefs,” Mandera County Commissioner Henry Ochako said when reached.
The responsibility of rescuing five chiefs who were abducted by suspected Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera on February 3, is now in the hands of the local community.
This has emerged even after President William Ruto, while in Mandera, ordered the Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli to lead the rescue operation.
“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.”
It is now three weeks and little has been done by the security agencies to find the five chiefs.
“We are yet to find our chiefs,” Mandera County Commissioner Henry Ochako said when reached.
The chiefs in captivity include Mr Adawa Abdi Mohmed, Mr Mohamed Hassan Kulumia, Mr Mohmednur Hache, Mr Abdi Hassan Suraw, and Ibrahim Gabow.
Mr Ochako said the local community was engaging the militants in efforts to free the chiefs.
“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.
Betrayal
According to Mr Ochako, security agencies are busy securing the border with Somalia.
Relatives of the missing chiefs see the government’s silence on the matter as a betrayal of its officers who were dedicated to work.
DIG Masengeli could not be reached as phone calls to him went unanswered. However, Mr Micheal Muchiri, the police spokesperson, said his boss was working with the ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs to have the chiefs back in Mandera.
“The issue of missing chiefs is beyond the police but DIG Masengeli is coordinating with the Interior Ministry and Foreign Affairs,” Mr Muchiri said by phone.
Calls to Interior Principal Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo went unanswered.
A relative of one of the five chiefs, speaking to Nation.Africa on condition of anonymity, said local elders have since been sent into interior Somalia.
“We have information that our relatives are being held in Jilib near Kismayo in Somalia. They are being held separately according to the latest information we have so far gathered,” he said.
Established in the 1980s, Jilib is about 400 kilometres from Mandera.
Al-Qaeda
The town began following the construction of the Fanoole hydroelectric dam completed in the 1980s.
The dam was constructed to provide electricity to Jilib, Marerey, Jamaame, and other towns located downstream of Jilib.
The dam was also planned for irrigating huge tracts of land, including 8,000 hectares of sugarcane and 5,000 hectares of paddy rice.
The growth of the town has since stagnated with the collapse of the state-owned hydroelectric dam and irrigation scheme and the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group has since turned the town to serve as its headquarters.
“The group of elders from Mandera are yet to meet the representatives of the captors. Our elders are still looking for local elders in Jilib to help link them up with the captors,” the relative said.
He revealed that the local elders at Jilib are important in linking with the militants to agree to come to the negotiating 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.
Back in the Wargadud area where the five chiefs served, families say the victims were sickly.
“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.”
He said it was too early to know how much the captors will demand if money will be needed to set the five free.
“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.
Immediately the chiefs were abducted, and security agencies arrested a suspect linked to terror incidents in Mandera who later escaped from Elwak Police cells.
Two police officers from Elwak Police Station have since been charged with aiding a prisoner to escape.
“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 Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) had been granted permission by Mandera Law Courts to hold the suspect for interrogation before he escaped.