Benadir administration calls on citizens to do their part in war against al-Shabaab

The Benadir administration is engaged in efforts to improve collaboration between citizens and security forces in the fight against al-Shabaab.

By Osman Mohamud
Saturday, February 15, 2014

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As mortar fire and brazen bombing attacks have shaken Mogadishu residents in recent weeks, the Benadir administration has been redoubling efforts to eradicate support for al-Shabaab through an awareness campaign in the capital.

The administration is seeking to improve citizen collaboration in the fight against al-Shabaab during its month-long awareness campaign launched February 8th. The programme aims to train 200 people from each of the district departments to perform public outreach in their neighbourhoods and workplaces.

As part of the efforts, Benadir Governor and Mogadishu Mayor Mohamud Ahmed Nur plans to visit every district in Mogadishu, spending a day at each location to meet with district commissioners and local residents.

At one such meeting in the Hawl Wadag district on Tuesday (February 11th), Nur spoke out very strongly against al-Shabaab a day after twin bombings in the capital targeted government officials.

"I am surprised why we are hearing that the al-Shabab members are arrested [by the security forces]," Nur said. "They should be eliminated on the spot and the reason for that is they justified shedding the blood of the people, and mobs should stone them to death."

Al-Shabaab is against the development of the Somali people, he said. "It banned the internet, it will ban telephone services and it will eventually refuse [to let] people buy food".

Nur called on citizens to help the authorities track down the terrorists' hiding places.

"We are telling the public to revolt and fight against the militants," he said. "The time of fighting them with troops [only] has ended; it is time for the public to fight and defend themselves."

Information kept confidential

Benadir administration spokesperson Mohamed Yusuf said citizens are encouraged to share any information they have on al-Shabaab members and the group's supporters without fear of retribution.

"Our aim is to eliminate the fear that stops people from informing us about an al-Shabaab member who is in hiding or someone who is suspected to be working with the group," he told Sabahi. "The information the people share with us will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone else so the public can work with security branches."

"This is a new plan that demonstrates the harm that al-Shabaab is doing to civilians," Yusuf said. "We intend to build up the public from the grassroots and provide citizens with the confidence to immediately contact security agencies as soon as they see anything that is dangerous to security."

Sadiyo Mohamed, 26, a mother of six who lives in Bondhere district, where the first meeting was held, told Sabahi she welcomed the effort to push back against al-Shabaab.

"It made me happy when I heard the start of the process to build confidence in the public, that if they report someone who is member of al-Shabaab, no one can find out about the person who provided the information," she said.

"In the past, we feared that we would be found out if we report an al-Shabaab member or about an incident that endangers the security situation," she said. "Everyone used to think, 'If God kept me away from the trouble of al-Shabaab, why should I seek them out?' But, it looks as if that is ending."

Mohamed said that some of the people who represented Bondhere at the awareness campaign meeting visited homes in the district and told residents about what they had discussed.

"I am satisfied with how this programme is going and I am hoping from now to report anyone whom I even suspect of being a member of al-Shabaab to the security agencies," she said.

Eliminating fear of al-Shabaab

Yusuf Osoble, 28, who studies medicine at Plasma University in Mogadishu and lives in Hawl Wadag district, said he supported the Benadir administration's efforts to eradicate al-Shabaab, but he said more than one month was needed to reach everyone.

"We are past the time that we fight al-Shabaab with guns only," he told Sabahi.

Al-Shabaab has been brainwashing youth with wrong ideas and creating anxiety among the people with their terrorist acts, Osoble said.

"The only way to combat this, I think, is to continue doing this kind of programme that Benadir administration is leading and to speed it up in order to erase from the public's mind the fear they have of al-Shabaab," he said. "If we get a united public that is not afraid of al-Shabaab, it will not take long to eradicate them."

Osoble said it was important to raise awareness about the dangers of al-Shabaab's ideology and to eliminate support for the group.

"Providing permanent organising activities to residents and giving them the confidence to have friendly relations with both security branches and district police stations is more important than fighting [al-Shabaab] with guns," he said. "Al-Shabaab is a weakened entity today and lacks any power in Mogadishu."

Safiya Abdulkadir, 26, who studied business and administration at Mogadishu University, called on security agencies to exercise caution before jailing every person accused of being an al-Shabaab member.

"I think when someone is suspected of being a member of al-Shabaab and is being reported to the security agencies, they should not hurry to arrest the person immediately," she said. "They should do a thorough investigation because each suspected person is not a member of al-Shabaab. It is possible that a person who is wrongfully jailed and then cleared of wrongdoing will remain stigmatised within the community."

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