NISA on spot over missing departmental head as Somalia's elections approach

NAIROBI, Kenya - Somalia's spy agency the National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] has been put on the spot following the disappearance of one of its employees, who has been working as a departmental head for a couple of years.

Ikran Tahil Farah, 24, has been serving as the head of cybersecurity at the NISA headquarters in Mogadishu before her mysterious disappearance on June 26, 2021, according to first-hand accounts by her immediate family, which spoke to the media.

Multiple sources claim that the youthful employee at the spy agency was picked at around 20:01Hrs local time by a car from her residence near the heavily fortified NISA headquarters only to fail to return home, over 20 days later. The family is now in distress.

For a vehicle to drive to the vicinity of NISA headquarters, it must get authorization from security chiefs, or at least, it must be subjected to serious checks by those in charge. Usually, there is a sheet for the registration of vehicles that make entry to the area.

NISA headquarters are some of the protected areas in Somalia a party from the Ministry of Defense headquarters, the presidential palace, and the Halane Base Camp which hosts several diplomatic missions in the Horn of Africa nation.

Qali Mohamud Guhad, the mother of the missing girl, now wants all the CCTV footage during the said date to be reviewed for the family to get a clue on the whereabouts of her daughter. She flew from Ankara, Turkey to make a follow-up on her missing girl.

According to sources, Ikran worked closely with former Banadir Governor Eng. Yarisow was assassinated in his office by a blind female bomber in 2019. Yarisow was one of the popular politicians in Somalia until his unfortunate demise.

The mother has also taken a swipe at the Fahad Yasin-led NISA, wondering why the agency has never shown any commitment to finding her missing daughter despite a series of complaints that have been raised by the immediate family.

Ikran is among the youth who studied abroad and came back to war-torn Somalia. Her destiny remains unclear as she's missing under the shadows of NISA, a controversial spy agency in the Horn of Africa nation.

For years, NISA has faced criticism throughout the reign of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who is a close ally of Fahad Yasin. The NISA director has among others, been accused of using NISA agents to intimidate the opposition.

The Union of Presidential Candidates in Somalia has often called for Yasin's resignation, accusing him of high-handedness. The spy agency is yet to directly or indirectly respond to the latest disappearance claims of its employee.

Somalia is set to go for elections from this month which will culminate in presidential polls that will be held on October 10, 2021. Farmajo has often been criticized for having the plot to rig the polls using the controversial spy agency.

GAROWE ONLINE