MOGADISHU, Somalia (AXADLE) – In a tense situation brimming with suspense and fear, Somali journalist Abduqadir Mohamed Nur, famously called Jakarta, found himself yanked from his home in Mogadishu’s Boondheere district. On the early morning of October 18, agents from the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) executed a forceful abduction. Following this ordeal, Jakarta was let go but with a gag order knotting his right to talk with the media.
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It’s like a scene ripped from a mystery novel, as Jakarta, engaged with Risaala Media, was whisked away at an ungodly 3:00 a.m., slumbering alongside kin.
The twist thickens with new info that two armed intruders barged into Jakarta’s crib, cuffed him, and hustled him into a waiting Toyota 4WD truck, where more NISA agents, menacingly armed, were stationed.
As the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) unfurled the narrative, of which Jakarta is a card-carrying member, eyewitnesses pegged the entourage as none other than NISA officers, the brains behind this daring snatch.
Jakarta recounted that they held him in the truck till the crack of dawn, 6:00 a.m., cuffed and facing gnarly threats.
His phone was snatched during the tumult. Then, NISA officer Mohamed Abdukadir Shakiib, who ain’t a stranger to controversial decisions, ushered him into the dreaded clutches of Godka Jila’ow prison.
Shakiib, a figure notorious for storming journalist sanctuaries, allegedly turned up the heat on Jakarta with brutal questioning and threats that chilled the spine to its core.
Echoing through the air, SJS Secretary General Abdalle Mumin decried Jakarta’s ordeal, candidly saying, “NISA is wielding former al-Shabaab cronies like Shakiib to cow journalists. With Jakarta, they grilled him mercilessly about Risaala’s bold takes on Mogadishu’s high and mighty.”
Risaala Media Corporation, famed for its straightforward takes on Somalia’s security and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s regime, has seen multiple team players abducted through the years.
Friday’s sun dipped as word of Jakarta’s nightmare blazed across town, cornering NISA into freeing him, but not without shackling him with silence about the whole brouhaha.
In a fervent rebuke, Mumin slammed the imposed hush order, railing it as “beyond the pale for authorities to nab a journo, spook him by his family’s side, and then demand silence in return. It’s all muscle flexing.”
Risaala Media’s head honcho, Mohamed Abduwahab, echoed this sentiment, urging an end to these heavy-handed moves against news chasers.
“The brass at Risaala Media slam the kidnapping and foul play against journalist Abduqadir Mohamed Nur (a.k.a Jakarta),” voiced Mr. Abduwahab with palpable frustration.
