Scholar abducted in Nairobi freed after two weeks

Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdiswamad

Somali scholar Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdiswamad who was abducted in Nairobi. His family says he returned home on September 19, 2021.

Photo credit: Courtesy

A Kenyan scholar, Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdiswamad, who went missing about two weeks ago, has been freed by his abductors.

Sheikh Abdiswamad is said to have been abducted on September 8, 2021 by people suspected to be security agents.

He was allegedly picked up by four men who were driving a white double cabin pickup truck registration number KCW341Y around 10am on Tubman Road in Nairobi.

Confirming his return on Monday, his wife Halima Mohammed said he arrived home on Sunday night.

“Yes, he is back. But we cannot talk about that issue at the moment,” she said.

Haki Africa’s executive director Hussein Khalid also confirmed the scholar had been returned by his abductors.

“We are pleased to inform members of the public that Sheikh Abdiswamad was returned on Sunday evening on September 19, 2021 and is now with his family. More information will be shared by the family in due course,” said Mr Khalid.

This happens a day after a Mombasa businessman and Old Town resident Abdulhakim Sagar, who had been missing for one month, was also freed.

Sheikh Abdiswamad’s disappearance had triggered a march by Muslim clerics and lobby groups to the offices of the Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) George Kinoti to express their anger over continued killings and disappearance of Muslims.