‘Kidnapped’ Sakaja aide Osman Khalif claims ‘brutal torture’ after resurfacing
By Hilary KimuyuOmar Khalif Abdi, a former South ‘C’ Member of the County Assembly (MCA) has resurfaced, two weeks after he disappeared amid claims he had been kidnapped.
Osman is also a close associate of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.
The news of his release was relayed by lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, who shared a picture with the politician and businessman on his n X account on November 23, 2023.
According to Adbullahi, Osman claimed to have been “brutally tortured” by his abductors while at the same time accusing a “powerful politician” of being behind the latter’s kidnapping.
Abdullahi said the unnamed politician sent some rogue police officers to kidnap and torture Osman, who is yet to release a statement or talk to the media.
“Apparently, this powerful politician has special policemen from his tribe under his command who are independent of the normal police command structure,” he said.
The outspoken advocate further said that it is worrying because Kenyans are being abducted, held for weeks, tortured, and then released. “Mr Osman’s case must be independently investigated and his abductors brought to justice.”
According to his lawyer, Oringe Waswa, his client is safe at home with his family. “We wanted him to be with his family first then we can allow the media. He needs to recollect himself,” he said.
Osman’s whereabouts had remained unknown since his alleged abduction at the Sarit Centre mall in Nairobi’s Westlands area on November 10, 2023 at around 5pm.
The former South C Ward MCA is said to have been taken by five unidentified people who were armed as his wife watched in vain.
His lawyer filed under a certificate of urgency a habeas Corpus application to have the court order the state to have police produce Osman.
The court ordered the Inspector General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to appear in court to shed light on the alleged abduction of Osman.
Earlier this week, Amin, through the DCI regional coordinator in Nairobi Peter Njeru, told the court that the scene of the alleged abduction was not caught by any CCTV cameras.
The DCI boss was summoned to appear in court but sent Njeru to represent him.
He further said that the DCI intended to carry out cyber-analysis at the scene of the alleged abduction of the Nairobi Liaison Officer with a view to identifying any other number that would have been at the scene at that time.
On their part, Sarit Centre Mall told the court the alleged kidnapping did not occur inside their mall as alleged.
They were however directed to file an affidavit detailing the same.
The two were directed to appear in court on Monday while telecommunications services provider Safaricom was ordered to produce car tracking records of the vehicle used by the abductors.
Also read: Kenyan chef Maliha awaits confirmation of Guinness World Record status after 150 hours of cooking
Manchester United defender Harry Maguire accepts apology from Ghanaian MP