A Nairobi court has closed a case involving the disappearance of Abdi Aidid Ali, an Eastleigh businessman who was feared to have been abducted.

The family decided to stop their legal action after Ali was found alive and in good health.

The trouble began when Mr Ali went missing along Mohammed Yusuf Haji Avenue in Eastleigh.

His family was terrified and claimed that masked men, whom they suspected were security officers, had forced him into a vehicle and driven away.

This sparked a lot of worry among the local business community and his relatives.

Desperate for answers, the family hired a lawyer, Mwaura Wakabata, and went to court.

They applied for Habeus Corpus and asked the judge to force the government to produce Mr Ali, “dead or alive,” and explain exactly what had happened to him.

At the time, they feared he was a victim of a forced disappearance by the state.

However, the case took a sudden turn when the matter came up in court.

The family’s lawyer informed the judge that Mr Ali had been located and was safe, he was back home, the family said they no longer had a reason to fight the government in court.

“My instructions are that he has been found and is safe,” the lawyer told the court.

“The family is relieved and does not wish to continue with the court process.”

The government did not object to ending the case; the judge then officially allowed the family to withdraw their petition, bringing the entire legal battle to a close.

While the family is happy that Mr Ali is home, they did not provide specific details in court about where he had been or who had taken him.