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By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.MOGADISHU – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) condemns the harassment and brief detention of Himilo Somali TV journalist, Omar Yusuf Mohamed (Omar Guux), by members of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) in Mogadishu’s Dharkeenley district on Monday, 18 August 2025.
This is the latest in a series of attacks against journalists and media workers in Somalia.
At around 6:00 p.m. local time on Monday, NISA officers stopped a tuktuk taxi in which journalist Omar Guux was travelling at a security checkpoint in the Walaalaha area of Dharkeenley district and demanded his identification. After he presented his journalist ID, the officers detained him and subjected him to verbal threats and harassment.
Omar told SJS that the armed NISA agents referred to his recent reporting for Himilo Somali TV, in which he covered sensitive stories including insecurity in Mogadishu, the forced evictions of vulnerable families in Mogadishu’s Siinaay, Dayniile and Hodan districts involving President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, as well as the ongoing forced voter registration process in Mogadishu.
Media outlets including Himilo Somali TV, where Omar Guux works, have repeatedly reported cases of citizens being abducted and registered without consent by the disputed electoral commission.
He was held at the same checkpoint for nearly an hour before being released.
“They briefly spoke on the phone with my media director and later told me I was under arrest,” Omar Guux told SJS. “After news of my arrest spread, they released me, though I had already been held at the checkpoint for nearly an hour.”
Himilo Somali TV has previously been subjected to repeated threats from NISA because of its critical reporting on security issues, forced evictions, abductions, and the controversial voter registration exercise in Mogadishu.
On 12 June 2025, armed NISA officers raided Himilo Somali TV’s studio and demanded the removal of an interview broadcast in which a young man described “being abducted and forced to register as a voter” in Mogadishu.
In November last year, NISA sent officers to arrest Himilo Somali TV editor Nuur Abdirahman following his reporting on business closures in Mogadishu due to Al-Shabaab threats. Nuur was forced into hiding.
Omar Guux, a prominent reporter from a minority community, fled with his family from Jowhar of Middle Shabelle to Mogadishu, where he continued his journalism career. In early February this year, a government-affiliated clan militia in Lower Shabelle kidnapped Omar after he traveled to KM50 village to report on community complaints of militia raids and abductions in the region.
SJS condemns the continued targeting of journalists and media workers, including those working for Himilo Somali TV. We call on NISA to immediately end its campaign of threats, harassment, and intimidation against Mogadishu’s journalist community.
“It is deeply troubling that NISA is targeting journalists who report on human rights abuses such as forced evictions and the unlawful voter registration campaign in Mogadishu,” said Abdalle Mumin, SJS Secretary General. “By harassing and detaining Omar Yusuf Mohamed, NISA is not only attacking press freedom but also trying to silence reporting on grave violations against vulnerable communities. These actions are a blatant abuse of power and must stop immediately and those perpetrating it must be held to account.”
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