Calls grow for the release of former deputy Al-Shabaab leader

BAIDOA, Somalia - Protests erupted in Baidoa, the regional administrative capital of Southwest for the better part of Thursday, with supporters of former Al-Shabaab deputy Mukhtaar Robow demanding for his immediate release, following over 20 months of "improper" incarceration in a Mogadishu prison.

The demonstrators carried placards written "long or short just must prevail" as they blamed authorities for "arbitrary arrests and detentions" of people who are "innocent" and mean good to the community. They appealed to the government to release their "son" without "unnecessary" conditions.

A public petition was submitted to local authorities, who are now expected to table it to the Mogadishu administration for actions. The protesters involved youths from Southwest who are believed to be staunch supporters of Mukhtaar Robow, the former Al-Shabaab deputy leader.

They insisted that the former commander cum politician was victimized due to his "irresistible" influence in Southwest and that he was sacrificed by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who was "desperate" to win support from the region by installing his "crony" as a regional leader.

According to the youths who otherwise were not rowdy, the release of Robow from a Mogadishu prison would mark the significant step towards reconciliation processes in the war-torn nation which has gone without a substantive government for almost three decades.

Robow, who renounced violent extremism in 2017, joined politics a year later and was the most favorite candidate for Southwest presidency, but his candidature caused discomfort in Villa Somalia, which is said to have engineered his subsequent predicaments.

Having declared presidency, Robow, who was on the verge of winning, was arrested by the Somali National Army [SNA] and the soldiers believed to be part of the non-AMISOM contingent of Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] on December 13, 2018, triggering a fierce gunfight in Baidoa.

After his arrest, his supporters engaged authorities in running battles, something that leftover 11 people dead after the fierce gunfight. He was whisked off to Mogadishu where he has been languishing in prison without a trial, something which has led to protests from the international community as well.

While the federal government has remained mum about his predicaments, it is believed that Mogadishu conspired with the Ethiopian army to have him arrested as a strategy to curtail his influence in Southwest, which went on to pick Lafta-Gareen as the regional president after Robow's arrest.

The opposition team has also been demanding for his release, arguing that he did not commit any crime that warrants such long detention. His family is limited from visiting him, but he's believed to be held by the dreaded National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA], which is often linked to political persecutions in Somalia.

Further, there have been calls for the withdrawal of ENDF non-AMISOM contingent from Southwest and sections of Jubaland, but the government is yet to make such a request. It's believed that the contingent was brought in to aid Farmajo to execute his political agenda, and the international community has always remained mum despite pressure from human rights groups.

Robow is one of the many political detainees who are languishing in jails despite the government not pressing any charges against them. Early this year, Abdirashid Janaan, Jubaland's security minister, was aided by insiders to escape from a detention facility where he was being held "unjustifiably" for several months.

GAROWE ONLINE