Man Claiming To Have Abducted By Al Shabaab Held By Police

MANDERA, Kenya, Nov 30 – Police in Mandera are holding a man who claimed he had been abducted by the Alshabaab militants but later managed to escape.

Mohamed Ibrahim Abdi was dropped on the road by a vehicle that sped off before anybody managed to pick up the plate numbers.

A local chief, his assistant and a police reservist came to the scene and found Abdi with a long chain on his leg.

The chief called the police who arrived at the scene from Elwak Police Station took Abdi with them and upon interrogation, he claimed he had been in captivity.

Mandera County Criminal Investigation boss, Benedict Kigen said the victim claimed to be a herdsman who was kidnapped by suspected Alshabaab militants on Wednesday last week.

“We had a reported incident of abduction and the victim had managed to sneak out and cross back into the country,” Mr Kigen said.

Abdi told the police he was kidnapped by three armed men as he searched for his lost camels.

 “He has told us that the abductors accused him of being a Kenyan government informer against the terror group. They took away his mobile phone and after interrogations, they announced his execution,” Mr Kigen said.

Abdi told the police that after the decision to kill him was passed, he was chained on a tree awaiting his death by a firing squad.

“While tied on a tree and left alone, I struggled and managed to break the chain and sneak away but with the same long chain on my leg”.

He said he found another man tied to a tree at the execution site but they could not communicate since they were far apart.

Meanwhile, two children suffered life-threatening injuries after an explosive they collected in the grazing fields exploded on them as they played with it.

The incident happened on Sunday in the Danacity area, Kotulo Sub-county.

The two, Mohamed Adan Ibrahim, 13 and Fardosa Ibrahim Kula 14, were looking after family livestock when the incident happened according to Mr Aden Ibrahim, their father.

Ibrahim lost a leg and he has since been referred to Hawasa in Ethiopia for further treatment while Fardosa is at Elwak Sub County hospital with injuries on the stomach, legs and head.

Mr Benedict Kigen said it was established the device was an old explosive that could have been dropped by security agencies while training in the area.

The incident happened exactly a month after two other children were killed at Wargadud area in Mandera South by an explosive that had been picked in a field that exploded on them.

“We are urging parents to guide their children against picking anything metallic found in the grazing fields. the same might be an explosive as we are witnessing,” Mr Kigen.