Bihi's humiliation causes outrage in Somaliland

HARGEISA, Somalia - An outrage was experienced in the breakaway region of Somaliland after former leader Muse Bihi Abdi was blocked from accessing the airport, which was directly blamed on the administration of President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, also known as Irro.

Bihi, who was scheduled to fly to the UAE, was barred from entering the airport with his entourage and forced to walk nearly one kilometre to the terminal before boarding the plane on foot. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt by the current administration to provoke unrest.

He had handed over power recently after his party lost elections to Irro a year ago, thus losing the presidency. The breakaway region of Somaliland has maintained a parallel administration since 1991, but there have been deliberate efforts to reconcile it with Mogadishu.

Supporters of the former president held protests across Somaliland, condemning the incident as a disgrace. There was no immediate response from the government over the incident, which comes at a time when the international community is keen on Somalia's unity.

Analysts described the decision as a deliberate act of humiliation—senseless, unnecessary, and serving no constructive purpose.

Elsewhere and in relation to the incident, a newly-formed rebel group has surfaced in Somaliland, accusing the current administration of fueling tensions and deliberately stoking unrest.

The rebels declared that their mobilisation was triggered by what they described as the dehumanising and degrading treatment inflicted on Somaliland’s former president, who was violently attacked as he attempted to enter the airport in Hargeisa for a scheduled trip to the UAE.

According to their statement, the former president was publicly humiliated, manhandled, and compelled to walk nearly a kilometre to the airport, an act they say epitomises the administration’s escalating repression against their community.

GAROWE ONLINE