Wednesday March 1, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - A young man named Mahdi Diiriye Adan, who worked as a bajaj taxi driver, was reportedly shot and killed by Somali government soldiers on Tuesday. Eyewitnesses say that the soldiers fired on Adan while they were guarding a government official travelling on Zoobe Road in Mogadishu in a bulletproof vehicle.
In response to Adan's killing, fellow bajaj drivers blocked the road in protest. The government forces reacted by using live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators. Bajaj drivers have been complaining that despite paying increasing taxes to the government, they are not receiving protection from soldiers who are quick to use their guns.
One of the Bajaj taxi drivers said, "I just paid $15 in tax money ten minutes ago and came from the Banadir region. It's unfair that the money we pay in taxes is used to buy bullets to kill and injure us daily." They report that attacks on them have become more frequent in recent months and are calling on the government to rein in aggressive soldiers.
In late January, another Bajaj taxi driver named Mohamed Hayle was
killed by Mogadishu police during an altercation near the Howl-Wadaag intersection. Within minutes, other bajaj drivers arrived at the scene and confronted the police, demanding the arrest of the offending officer.