‘My would-be-assassins were paid Sh34 million’ – Abdiwahab Sheikh

Somalia Critic Abdiwahab Sheikh (pictured) has this evening revealed that his abductors were paid $300,000 (approximately 34 million shillings) to kill him and two other prominent Kenyan-Somali leaders .

“FYI: Tusbaxle paid $300K to assassinate me. Initial plan was 2 kill @FarahMaalimM & @ahmednasirlaw, 2. The hitmen were smarter than him. They got the money & spared me. Soomaaliyey, qof Twitter wax lagu qoray, dhiig u galaya, maad wadan ku aaminaysaan”, he wrote on Twitter at 5:35pm Friday evening.

Around September 2021, mysterious gunmen abducted Somalia critic Abdiwahab Sheikh in the Nairobi Central Business District in broad daylight.

The scholar was held for 12 days at an undisclosed location but was lucky to be released unhurt.

Other abductees in 2021 weren’t as lucky.

Kenyans on Twitter made a lot of noise about this abduction.

READ: Missing Somali Abdiwahab Sheikh fingered Sahan Africa Limited before disappearance

What was not known then is that other prominent members of the Somali community such as Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi and politician Farah Maalim were also on the assassin’s list.

Deadly disappearances

Other prominent abductions and disappearances that were recorded in 2021 include that of former military man and security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe, Mohamud Bashir Mohammed, a Somali-American businessman.

Though the whereabouts of Mwenda Mbijiwe is not known to date, Mr Bashir’s Range Rover was discovered burnt beyond recognition. The family found the closure that he was murdered.