Al-Shabaab returnee to be moved to Nairobi for reintegration
Roble Musa Yerow an Al-Shabaab returnee at Mandera Law Courts on March 25, 2022. The local court allowed the police to transfer him to Nairobi for a reintegration program.
A Mandera court has allowed the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) to transfer an Al-Shabaab returnee to Nairobi for deradicalisation and reintegration into society.
Mandera Senior Resident Magistrate Mukabi Kimani allowed a request to have the returnee, Roble Musa Yarow be transferred to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Nairobi.
Yarow is reported to have sneaked out of the terror group’s camp in Somalia and crossed back to Kenya on March 11.
He was handed over to security agencies by a family member and a local government administrator.
“The respondent is a returnee seeking amnesty and he has been cooperative with the security agencies. We are seeking to have him moved to ATPU and NCTC headquarters in Nairobi for reintegration,” Mr Nyandega told the court in an affidavit.
Police say Yerow was recruited into Al-Shabaab in 2020 by his elder brother, identified as Abdifatah Musa Yerow.
“He has informed us that he sneaked out of the terror cell after failing to get what he was promised when he joined the group,” the officer said.
The police maintained that they were transferring Yerow to Nairobi for his own security as Al-Shabaab members were after him.
Police said the Mandera ATPU office lacked the facilities and expertise needed to reintegrate the returnee.
“Reintegration is crucial not only to prevent acts of violence but also to mitigate further radicalisation among the youthful population and building … resilience to violence extremism,” Mr Nyandega said.
Records in Mandera show that Yerow is the only terror suspect who has surrendered to the government since amnesty was announced in 2014.
