MOGADISHU (Axadle) Journalists documenting forced evictions and other matters of public concern in Somalia and North Western State of Somalia are facing a widening crackdown, with reporters arrested, detained and allegedly beaten in recent months, the Somali Journalists Syndicate said.
The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said it has recorded 13 arbitrary arrests of journalists in Mogadishu since Jan. 1, 2026. In North Western State of Somalia, it said, 10 journalists have been arrested over the same period. Many of the incidents involved coverage of protests, forced evictions or criticism directed at government officials.
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The most recent case involved two journalists with North Western State of Somalia-based Eryal TV, who said Somali police and officers from the National Intelligence and Security Agency physically assaulted them on Sept. 29 as they covered forced evictions in Mogadishu’s Yaqshiid district.
Journalist Mukhtar Abdi Adan, known as Nadaara, and cameraman Ibrahim Aden Mohamed told the SJS they were speaking with residents protesting evictions when police and NISA personnel arrived. They said the officers were operating under instructions from Yaqshiid’s deputy police commander, Yahye Osman Abdi, known as Yahye Baroodo.
Mukhtar said two officers hit him with a rifle butt and a pistol, while Ibrahim said he was struck in the face with the front of a pistol. The journalists said officers seized their camera equipment and mobile phones, blindfolded them and drove them in a police vehicle to an isolated area outside the city.
At that location, they said, officers questioned them and accused Ibrahim of recording families who had been forcibly removed from their homes. Ibrahim said he was slapped during the interrogation.
The journalists said they remained at the site for about 20 minutes before being taken to Yaqshiid Police Station, where they were held for about nine hours without charge. They said they were not provided food while in custody. They were released at about 5:30 p.m. without being charged.
Their report was later published, showing women and elderly residents speaking out about forced evictions from land formerly owned by the Somali government.
Yahye Baroodo did not respond to SJS requests for comment. The Mogadishu police commissioner also did not answer questions regarding the arrest and alleged assault.
“We condemn the physical assault and arbitrarily arrest of Mukhtar Abdi Adan, known as Nadaara, and his cameraman, Ibrahim Aden Mohamed. The police and NISA officers who were involved in this case must be held accountable for using violence and unlawful detention against journalists who were reporting on forced evictions affecting hundreds of vulnerable families in Yaaqshiid district in Mogadishu,” said SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin.
“Journalists in Mogadishu are on the frontline to report on mass evictions as they are documenting matters of serious public interest and human rights concern. They must be protected, not attacked, threatened, or arrested for doing their work. We call on the authorities to ensure the safety of journalists covering forced evictions and to respect their right to report freely without intimidation or interference,” Mr. Mumin added.
The Mogadishu incidents come as journalists in North Western State of Somalia have also been detained while reporting on evictions and other sensitive local issues.
On Sept. 26, North Western State of Somalia police in Hargeisa arrested two KF Media journalists, Mohamed Abdi Qalinle and photographer Abdiqadir Ismail Abdirahman, as they reported from a religious gathering organized by the Tabliiq Islamic movement outside the capital.
The journalists were reportedly carrying out vox-pop interviews when police officers tried to stop them. According to colleagues who spoke to SJS, the journalists resisted the order and were arrested and taken to Hargeisa Police Station. They were released shortly afterward without charge.
Two days earlier, on Sept. 24, North Western State of Somalia police detained Zakariye Said Bulaale, a Sahan TV journalist, in the town of Caynaba after he reported on the closure of a primary school in the nearby village of Dhooba Weyne.
The school had reportedly shut because it lacked enough teachers, leading residents to ask the North Western State of Somalia government for help. Zakariye was detained after covering an event attended by Ministry of Education officials where the school closure was raised, according to a colleague who visited him in detention.
He spent two days in custody without charge before he was released.
Another North Western State of Somalia journalist, Hassan Saleban Harun, known as Gallaydh, was arrested on Sept. 9 while covering a university graduation ceremony in Gebiley and was later transferred to Hargeisa. Police did not publicly state the reason for his arrest.
Local journalists told SJS that Hassan had spoken two days earlier at a journalists’ protest in Hargeisa, where he called for the release of journalist Abdiqani Hussein Abokor, known as Baylood, and poet Ismail Yusuf Abdi, also known as Jiheeye.
Hassan was released without charge on Sept. 12.
Abdiqani, the founder of Heegan TV, and Jiheeye were arrested on Aug. 29 after Heegan TV published an interview in which the poet criticized North Western State of Somalia President Abdirahman Abdullahi Irro over forced evictions in Hargeisa.
In the interview, Jiheeye spoke about the eviction of his family and recited a poem addressed to the president. Authorities later detained both men.
More than a month after the arrests, prosecutors filed charges against the journalist and the poet, according to their lawyers. The charges included publishing or disseminating false information, inciting the public and conspiracy to commit a crime.
The case was later heard by the Maroodi Jeex Regional Court in Hargeisa. The Somali Journalists Syndicate has urged the court to dismiss the charges and release both men.
Defense lawyer Tawakal Ibrahim Mohamed previously said the two men’s prolonged detention without charge breached North Western State of Somalia’s Constitution.
North Western State of Somalia authorities have not publicly answered the SJS’s calls for their release.
“The arrest and continued detention of Abdiqani Baylood in Hargeisa simply because he reported on issues affecting the public, interviewed a citizen who criticised those in power, or expressed his views is unacceptable. We call for his release and for the Maroodi Jeex Regional Court to dismiss the unfounded charges against Abdiqani Baylood and poet Ismail Jiheeye, whom he interviewed,” said SJS Secretary General Abdalle Mumin.
“President Abdirahman Irro should demonstrate his commitment to democracy and the rule of law by ensuring that journalist Abdiqani Baylood and poet Ismail Jiheeye are released immediately. North Western State of Somalia’s journalists are not the enemy of the government. They are an essential part of society and play a critical role in informing the public, exposing abuses, raising concerns from communities, and holding those in power accountable,” added Mr. Mumin.
The arrests have unfolded amid large-scale forced evictions in Mogadishu. The Somalia Evictions Information Portal, run by the Norwegian Refugee Council, reported that 21,349 households were evicted in Mogadishu between January and September 2026, after 24,865 households were recorded as forcibly evicted in 2025.
The Somali Journalists Syndicate says armed police and NISA personnel are often involved in evictions. Sources who spoke to the organization alleged that some evictions were conducted on orders linked to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, while other accounts have alleged that land is later sold or allocated to wealthy individuals or people with political connections.
Media reporting and testimony from affected residents have described women, children and elderly people among those forced from their homes, with some properties demolished after evictions. Cases have involved land formerly owned by the Somali central government as well as privately owned property that residents say was seized by force.
Journalists reporting on the evictions have increasingly faced arrest and intimidation, according to the SJS
Earlier in 2026, Horyaal TV journalist Omar Hayne was arrested while covering a protest in Borama on May 18 and released nearly a week later. On May 23, North Western State of Somalia police arrested journalist Abdikarim Isse Abdullahi as he covered a residents’ protest in Sheikh. He was held for several days at the Gebiley police station before being released without charge.
The Somali Journalists Syndicate said the cases point to a pattern in which journalists covering public-interest issues are detained without charge, have their equipment confiscated or face intimidation.
It has urged authorities in Somalia and North Western State of Somalia to investigate allegations of abuse, hold officers accountable for unlawful arrests or assaults, and allow journalists to work without interference.
