An ex-security minister in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland state Abdirashid Hassan Nur disappeared from police custody in Mogadishu on Tuesday morning, according to Somalia’s deputy police commissioner.
Deputy police commissioner Zakia Hussein said that the authorities had launched a hunt for Nur and asked the public to volunteer any information that will lead to his capture.
“The former Jubaland Security Minister, Abdirashid Hassan (Janan), this morning escaped from the detention centre. Security agencies are pursuing him in a bid to re-arrest the suspect, who is accused of various crimes. The public should report if they see him,” Hussein tweeted.
Nur had been arrested in August last year at the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu on accusations of serious human rights violations and killings in Gedo by the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG).
Rights group Amnesty International said Nur’s arrest was a “significant step” towards accountability for the violations committed by powerful individuals in Somalia.
The arrest of Nur, who was on his way to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, sparked protests in the state.
His arrest was connected to a political conflict between Somalia’s central government and Jubaland following the disputed re-election of the state’s president Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe.
Local media reported that Nur’s escape may revive the strained relationship between the central government and Jubaland.
