Wycliffe Nyamasege
Liban Abdillahi Omar, a Westgate terror suspect who was acquitted yesterday, has reportedly been abducted after being freed from police custody.
Reports indicate that Omar was abducted on Thursday morning by unknown gunmen moments after leaving Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) offices in Upper Hill, Nairobi.
Omar is said to have been in the company of his sister in a taxi when four gun-toting men in a Subaru ordered them to stop.
The gunmen pulled Omar from the taxi and forced him into their vehicle before speeding off. The incident took place near KCB towers.
The gunmen reportedly took off with the taxi driver’s car keys leaving them stranded.
The incident has elicited mixed reactions with Muslim for Human Rights (Muhuri) lobby group pointing a finger at the police.
“If the police are not satisfied with the ruling they should appeal and follow the laid down processes,” said the group’s chairman Khelef Khalifa.
Read: One Acquitted As Two Westgate Terror Attack Suspects Found Guilty
Omar was set free by presiding magistrate Francis Andayi on Wednesday for lack of evidence in the Westgate terror attack that left at least 67 people dead and more than 150 others injured.
Omar, a refugee from Somalia, was arrested after police tracked phone calls with his brother, who was killed in the attack. He had been in custody for over seven years.
Omar’s co-accused Mohamed Abdul and Hussein Mustafa were found guilty of conspiring to commit a terror attack.
Read Also: Westgate Terror Suspects Complain Of Kamiti Diet, Cold Cells As Sentencing Pushed To October
The three faced up to 12 counts related to the commission of a terrorist act, conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, giving support to a terrorist group, Al Shabaab, and being in the country illegally. Some of the charges were dismissed by the court.
“I give the second accused the benefit of doubt in communicating with his brother who was one of the attackers. Not everyone who speaks with the accused is guilty,” Andayi said while acquitting the second accused who had also been charged with being in the country illegally.
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