'Run for your life!': Lawyer Abshir Abdi tells court of abduction ordeal

By  Richard Munguti

Correspondent

Nation Media Group

Lawyer Abshir Abdi, who was dumped in Marsabit County yesterday after going missing for 12 days, appeared at the Milimani High Court on Friday following his release.

Abdi appeared alongside another abductee, Ayub Maalim, before Justice Alexander Muteti.

Both Abdi and Maalim were accompanied by their relatives.

The judge was urged by lawyers Eric Theuri, Ian Mutiso and Abner Mango to receive evidence from the two to explain circumstances under which they were held and released.

"These abductees were released at a conflict zone where warring factions in Ethiopia are fighting...so that should anything happen, their captors would not be blamed," Theuri told the judge.

Justice Muteti heard that when the two were released, they were told to "run for dear life".

Abdi was reportedly dumped by his captors between 5 and 6am at Sololo in Marsabit.

Sololo is approximately five kilometres south of the border with Ethiopia, which is currently undergoing violent clashes that have seen more than 50,000 Ethiopians flee into Kenya. 

According to police sources, concerned locals who found him established his identity after he shared the phone number of a family member, who confirmed it was the missing lawyer. 

Hearing of the case at the Milimani High Court is currently ongoing. It's expected that the abductees will reveal more about their ordeal.

Habeas corpus application

The case at the High Court is a habeas corpus application by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). It was filed while he was missing and sought to compel authorities to produce Abdi, dead or alive. 

LSK had asked the court to summon senior security officials, including Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga and National Intelligence Service Director-General Noordin Haji, over the matter.

LSK President Charles Kanjama told the court that the officials should explain the growing number of alleged enforced disappearances in the country.

Earlier court filings showed that police considered Abdi a person of interest in investigations into an alleged criminal network involved in extortion, abductions and malicious prosecutions.

Chief Inspector Vitalis Kimutai of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit had told the court last week that investigations had linked Abdi to an extortion syndicate in which individuals who failed to meet monetary demands were allegedly arrested and detained at various police stations.

Seeking clarification, Justice Muteti had asked whether police were alleging that people who refused to pay were arrested and charged on trumped-up cases.

Kimutai responded that investigations had established such claims and said Abdi had previously been arrested and presented before the Kahawa Law Courts.

According to court documents, Abdi was last seen at about 4am on November 1 when armed men dressed in tactical gear allegedly forced him into a black Toyota Land Cruiser Prado TX.

His white Toyota Premio, registration number KDL 356C, was later recovered abandoned along Muchai Road and taken to Kilimani Police Station.

According to his family, the lawyer had previously received threats allegedly from officers linked to the National Intelligence Service, the DCI, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau and the Kenya Defence Forces, warning him to withdraw from the case or risk abduction and death.