Tuesday September 21, 2021
Scholar Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamad is back to his family in Nairobi after being abducted on September 8.
The 55-year-old-Kenyan-Somali citizen was released on Sunday to his family. People who spoke to him at his South C home said he feels confused and exhausted. He's grateful to be free.
“He says he is tired and wants to sleep for up to three days," a visitor who talked to him on Sunday said.
A relative said he was "in good health and happy to be reunited with his family but looks confused".
Abdisamad was abducted at about 10am as he left his car and walked to a hotel on Tubman Road near City Market in the CBD. He was taken out of Nairobi; he said he did not know where.
He was given food and had time to perform his prayers, he said.
The scholar was asked a number of questions again and again, he told visitors. They were not disclosed.
Abdisamad is the executive director of the Institute for Horn of Africa Strategic Studies and an analyst at Southlink Consultants.
He routinely comments on politics and conflicts in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
He has commented on power struggles between Somalia President Mohammed Farmaajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Roble.
Human rights groups such as Haki Africa said Abdisamad may have been targeted due to his strong opinions about the recent diplomatic differences between Kenya and Somalia. They said the comments suggested Nairobi was bullying Mogadishu.
Intelligence sources told the Star the questioning involved terrorism and money laundering to finance it. He was shown men's pictures and asked if they contributed to instability in Somalia, they said.
He was also asked about land he bought in Karen, the sources said, adding that questioners included foreigners.
The details of his release have not made public. His wife Halima Mohamed confirmed his release, as did Haki Africa.
“We are pleased to inform the public Sheikh Abdiswamad was returned on Sunday evening on September 19 and is now with his family. More information will be shared by the family in due course,” Haki Africa executive director Hussein Khalid said.
Khalid told the Star the trend of forcible disappearance has hurt the image of Kenya's security apparatus. If one is suspected of any office, he or she ought to be summoned and proper investigations done, he said.
“What if they just summoned Abdisamad if they suspected him of anything and then interrogated him and released him back to his family? All this panic and anxiety visited upon his family would not emerge,” Khalid said.
The abduction prompted leaders of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslim leadership to visit DCI headquarters about the abduction and increasing cases of disappearances.
In Mombasa, Abdulhakim Salim Sagar who was picked up on August 19 was also released on Sunday. He is a cousin to Hanniya Sagar, wife of slain Islamic preacher Aboud Rogo.