MANDERA—Five chiefs abducted in Mandera by suspected Al-shabaab gunmen while travelling from Wargadud to Elwak town in Mandera County have been released.
According to some elders who participated in the negotiations leading to the release, the chiefs were freed on Sunday afternoon.
“[Their] release came as a result of weeks of intense negotiations. Alhamdullillah! They are now back,” an elder who has been actively engaged in the process, told Kulan Post in confidence.
The five chiefs—Mohammed Adawa, Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Noor, Assistant Chief Ibrahim Gabow, and Senior Chief Abdi Suraw—were abducted after they were ambushed by suspected terrorists in Elwak, Mandera County in February, just one day before President Ruto started his tour of Northeastern counties.
President Ruto, while speaking in Mandera town the following day, assured that “the five abducted Mandera chiefs will be brought back home safely.”
A month later, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo reiterated the President’s commitment, adding that he was not at liberty to discuss what was being done.
“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” Omollo stated.
“There is a lot of work going on, some of which we may not discuss on air but maybe to understand how security then become everybody’s concern,” Omollo said during a breakfast interview at Spice FM.
He added: “These are chiefs who work for the government and the ministry responsible for securing the country and they have been taken by terrorists, or what we call Al-Shabaab, and this demonstrates that none of us is immune to some of these insecurity incidents.”
Omollo went on to say that as, President William Ruto promised, there is “an ongoing engagement with people from a neighbouring country where the chiefs were taken.” He said that these engagements will ensure they return safely and resume their duties.
