Samson Teklemichael: Ethiopian media demands answers from Kenyan govt over abducted national
Tigray Herald, an Ethiopian media outlet that ‘covers the news, events, activities and initiatives of Tigrai/yans and other oppressed peoples of the Horn of Africa’ has hit out at the Kenyan government for refusing to furnish the world with details of the abduction of Ethiopian businessman Samson Teklemichael on the streets of Nairobi.
In their statement which they copied to Nairobi News, Kenya’s President William Ruto, the US Embassy in Kenya, the United Nations Human Rights, the American State Department, and two other media outlets, Tigray Herald said the Kenyan government failed to honor their appeal to trace the whereabouts of their compatriot.
“#We appealed to Kenyan authorities to help trace his whereabouts. Still, they haven’t given us any answer for 1 year & 3months we demand Justice for our beloved brother Samson. #Justice4SamsonKE,” said the Tigray Herald on March 6, 2023.
Samson Teklemichael was bundled out of his Bentley vehicle as he drove in Nairobi’s upmarket neighborhood, Kileleshwa, on November 19, 2021, leaving many wondering whether it was an arrest or abduction. This is because of the demeanor of the people who drugged him out of his vehicle and into an awaiting Subaru, a vehicle commonly used by law enforcement agencies in Kenya.
Teklemichael was initially stopped by a traffic police officer before he was taken by unknown people.
As he was being manhandled, Teklemichael could be heard in a viral video pleading with people to help him just after he had initially called his wife and told her that he was being abducted. His wife would later go and pick his car which had been abandoned in the middle of the road upon his being stopped and commenced on searching for her husband.
At the time of his abduction, speculation was rife that Teklemichael was suspected to be involved in one way or the other in the Tigray war against the Ethiopian government. Since being taken, he has never been seen again.
In March 2022, the Ethiopian government reached out to the Kenyan government, asking them to expedite investigations into Teklemichael’s disappearance but they too did not get any response from their Kenyan counterparts.
The Kenyan police denied having a hand in the abduction, saying they were also interested in knowing who took Tecklemichael.
This was after a police rider was seen in the viral video stopping as the abduction took place, watched what was happening and drove off after being told by the abductors that they were police too. Apparently, the officer later said that he had concluded the men had been with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and that was why he rode off on his motorcycle.
Also read: Amira claims she miscarried after ex-hubby Jimal Rohosafi’s ‘assault’
Xtian Ndela’s mother now attacks daughter in law in family feud