Somalia militants abduct 2 Kenyan teachers

Saturday, April 25, 2015

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MANDERA, Kenya -- Suspected Somali Al- Shabaab militants kidnapped two Kenyan teachers on Friday evening in the Mandera border town.

Mandera County Commissioner Alex Nkoyo confirmed the incident, saying the names of the two primary school teachers could not be immediately established were abducted.

"We are investigating the incident which took place at around 4 p.m.. The two teachers are non locals," Nkoyo said without giving more details.

The militias are said to have bundled the two who were in their houses in Mandera town before speeding off to Somalia.

The incident comes hours after Al-Shabaab killed an abducted Kenyan official after failing to receive 43,800 U.S. dollars ransom. The body identified as Mkutar Otieno was found in Badhere area with bullet wounds after he was kidnapped early on Thursday. The vehicle the gang had also carjacked was missing.

The militants late last year hijacked a Nairobi-bound commuter bus and brutally murdered 28 people, mostly non local teachers who were returning home for holiday.

Already, the education sector is the most hit in the northeast region as non Muslim teachers posted to Wajir, Garissa and Mandera counties have declined to resume duty and instead, pitched camp in Nairobi seeking transfers to other regions, citing insecurity among a host of other challenges.

Thousands of students have been forced to conduct their own tuition for lack of teachers while some schools are engaging the services of former students to fill the gap left by the missing teachers.

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