North Eastern: Leaders blame Adan Keynan for arrest of local politicians, businessmen
Political leaders and professions from Eldas constituency in Wajir County have come out gun blazing as they condemn a recent arrest of a local politician by police officers.
On Monday, October 18, the professionals and leaders held a press statement in Eldas where they condemned the arrest of Siyad Jimale Amin who was nabbed while on a civic education and drought mitigation exercise.
Amin was nabbed by police officers as he was busy engaging with locals in the constituency and held at a local police station for hours.
Speaking to People Daily Digital on that day, Eldas Sub-County Police boss Philip Chirchir said that Amin who also served as the Secretary General of Eldas professions was involved in an assault case.
“The information I have so far is that Amin was involved in an assault case that's why he was nabbed and taken to the station where he was questioned and later released on bond,” he said.
However, Amin and the other professional leaders dismissed the arrest saying that they were politically instigated.
In their statement, the professionals accused Eldas MP Adan Keynan Wehliye of being behind the arrests as most of those who have been arrested in the recent past are those who are opposed to his style of leadership.
They gave an example of an incident that took place about one month ago when one Mohamed Ali Keynan was abducted and forcefully admitted to a psychiatric hospital against his will.
The professionals alleged that Mohamed Ali had to go through the ordeal because he has been amongst the top critics of the area MP.
They also gave an example of the arrest of a local businessman known as Osman Adow Issack who was nabbed on Friday, March 13, 2021.
“The businessman was arrested and his car forcefully taken by local sleuths on trumped-up charges just moments after he released a video where he criticized the MP,” the statement read in part.
The professions also said that they were aware of an incident that happened in 2017 when one Mohamed Adow Guliye who was running for the Della Ward seat was nabbed on trumped-up charges after he penned an article hitting on the area MP.
“There is also the case of one Noor Billow who was an employee of Wajir County Government who was nabbed and locked up in the cells and was released after three days without any charges,” they said.
Our efforts to reach Adan Keynan to respond to the allegations against him have been in vain as he has neither picked up our phone calls nor replied to our messages. It is important to note that we have tried to get a comment from him for about two weeks.
The professionals said that it was time the police stopped being used by leaders who are being driven by selfish agenda.
They also called upon the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to investigate the recent arrests of locals who are later released without being charged.
