NAIROBI [SMN] – The family of Abdullahi Issa Ibrahim, a Kenyan soldier believed to have been held by Al-Shabaab for nine years, has appealed to the Kenyan government for assistance in securing his release.
Ibrahim was captured during the Al-Shabaab attack on the Kenyan military base in El Adde on January 15, 2016, where he was presumed dead.
Hope was reignited for his family when a video showed Ibrahim alive, pleading for the Kenyan government’s intervention to free and reunite him with his family.
The viral video contradicted the official death certificate issued in December 2020.
Living in Maline Estate, Eldoret, the family’s hope was sparked when Kathra, Ibrahim’s daughter, received a call from someone claiming to be her father in Somalia.
She demanded visual proof, which eventually confirmed her father’s survival.
However, the family is now anxious about his physical and mental health, having been held captive for nearly a decade.
Alongside Ibrahim’s video, another Kenyan soldier from Trans-Nzoia also appeared in an Al-Shabaab video, pleading for government assistance in securing his freedom.
