Interior PS Omollo: No armed operation to rescue five Mandera chiefs held by Al-Shabaab

The government has ruled out a forceful rescue mission to save five chiefs abducted by Al-Shabaab militants in Mandera County on February 3, 2025.

Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has said the government is working through diplomatic and security channels to secure their release.

Speaking during an interview on Wednesday, he emphasised that while the government was keen on securing their release, it was not considering an armed rescue operation into Somalia, where the chiefs are believed to be held, to avoid risking more lives.

“As much as we are engaging and keeping the country secure, we don’t want to end up losing lives that ordinarily we would be able to save,” he said.

Omollo dismissed claims that the state had abandoned efforts to bring back the abducted chiefs, insisting that rescue operations were ongoing behind the scenes.

“There has been silence on the issue of the abducted chiefs, but there is a lot that is going on, some of which we may not be able to discuss on air,” he said.

The five chiefs namely Mohammed Adawa, Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Noor, Assistant Chief Ibrahim Gabow, and Senior Chief Abdi Suraw, were abducted after they were ambushed by suspected terrorists in Elwak, Mandera County.

Police and witnesses said the group was travelling in a car to Elwak when they were attacked and hijacked between Bamba Owla and Ires Suki.

They were to meet in the area to plan how to cover a planned visit by President William Ruto to the region.

Frustrated families

Families of the missing chiefs in Mandera have continuously expressed frustration over what they termed as a lack of direct communication from the government.

However, PS Omollo noted that authorities in Somalia were being engaged to assist in securing the release of the chiefs, noting that cross-border cooperation was crucial in resolving the situation.

“We are constantly engaging. The abductors crossed into our neighbouring country. The borders are a temporary distinction between our countries, but the communities are the same,” he said.

“There is an active engagement that will eventually see to it that they are safely back in the country and resume their duties.”

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Omollo further acknowledged that the abduction of government officials highlighted the pervasive threat posed by the Al-Shabaab militant group, which continues to operate along the Kenya-Somalia border.

“Security is everyone’s concern, and these are chiefs working for a ministry that is about security. This demonstrates that none of us is immune to some of this insecurity,” he said.

On February 4, President William Ruto directed Deputy Inspector-General of Police Gilbert Masengeli to spearhead efforts to rescue the captives.

He assured the country that the five abducted Mandera chiefs would be brought back home safely as he vowed to sustain the fight against criminal gangs and terror groups.

On February 27, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen reaffirmed that efforts to secure the release of the abducted Mandera chiefs were still ongoing.

He confirmed that negotiations were active and that intermediaries were engaging with the captors. However, he refrained from divulging further details, citing security concerns.

"Negotiations are ongoing, the good news is that the contact is there, there are interlocutors that are working on it and we believe that eventually the situation will be sorted. I don't wish to say more than that because of the security situation. It is important to keep it as it is because what is primarily important for the Republic of Kenya is the safety of our chiefs across that border," he said.

Meanwhile, Omollo also addressed the recent mysterious reappearance of a Wajir County Assembly member who had been missing for six months. He said state security agencies were keen to interview him to understand his ordeal.

“It will be interesting to find out what happened during these six months. At one point, we had a body recovered in Wajir, and someone could be asking themselves, maybe there were two MCAs—one abducted and killed and another one abducted and finally has shown up,” he said.

Omollo reaffirmed that the government does not condone forced disappearances and has mechanisms to hold officers accountable in cases of excesses.

“It is not the government policy to abduct, and where there are excesses, we have a robust mechanism to hold people to account, particularly government officers,” he said.