MANDERA: Police in Mandera have arrested a suspect believed to be part of a plot to kidnap Chinese nationals working on a sewerage construction project in the area.

The suspect, Isaac Abdi Mohamed, 29, is accused of collaborating with a local driver to lure the foreign workers into an ambush where they would be abducted by Al-Shabaab militants.

According to an official police report, security agencies received intelligence indicating that the terrorist group was planning to abduct the Chinese nationals. Acting on the tip-off, officers apprehended Mohamed, who was identified as a key operative in the scheme.

“The suspect, Isaac Abdi Mohamed alias Kharan Abdi Hassan, is believed to be a Somali national who recently sneaked into Kenya and fraudulently applied for a Kenyan identity card,” the report stated.

Abduction Plan and Cash Involvement

Investigations revealed that Mohamed had planned to meet with an accomplice and the Chinese driver—who is of local origin—at 9:30 AM on March 18, 2024.

The police further established that during this meeting, the driver was to be paid Sh 100,000 to transport the Chinese nationals to a predetermined location where the abduction would occur.

After that, Mohamed would then take the hostages across the border to El-Ade, and receive another Sh300,000

After his arrest and interrogation, Mohamed confessed that he was also targeting doctors and other Chinese nationals in Mandera Township. He further disclosed that he was working closely with a Kenyan accomplice identified as Noor Yacob Ali.

Authorities have launched a manhunt for other suspects linked to the plot, while security measures around foreign workers in Mandera have been heightened.