MOGADISHU, Somalia, 02 February, 2024 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) calls on Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) to release freelance online journalist Sharif Abdi, who has been detained without a court order by NISA since 25 January 2025.
On the night of Saturday, January 25, armed NISA officers raided the home of Sharif Abdi in Mogadishu’s Waberi district.
However, family members told SJS that the officers began tracking him after failing to find him at his residence.
Later that evening, NISA officers detained the journalist at another location far from his home.
A family member and one of Sharif’s colleagues told SJS that the NISA officers who detained him were using a mobile tracking device to locate him.
SJS has been informed that the journalist was taken to the notorious NISA detention and torture facility known as Godka Jila’ow in Mogadishu, where he is currently being held.
Family members attempted to visit him but were denied access, leaving them unaware of his safety and well-being.
Sharif, who uses Facebook for his reporting, primarily covers security operations in the Hiiraan region, central Somalia, where he hails from.
In his reports reviewed by SJS, Sharif has been critical of NISA Director Abdullahi Mohamed Ali (Sanbalolshe).
In his last report, published on Saturday, January 25, before his arrest, Sharif discussed the rift between the NISA chief and local clan elders in Hiiraan regarding a planned military operation against Al-Shabaab.
The region has recently witnessed increased inter-clan conflict amid the ongoing Al-Shabaab threat.
A government source told SJS that NISA officials were angered by the journalist’s report, prompting NISA Chief Mr. Sanbalolshe, who also doubles as a member of parliament, to order his arrest.
“We strongly condemn the unlawful and continued detention of journalist Sharif Abdi. His arrest is yet another attack on press freedom in Somalia and it poses a threat to wider journalist community who cover issues about security operations and the conflict,” said SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin.
“We call on NISA officials to release Sharif Abdi unconditionally and to end their harassment of journalists who are critical of them and other government officials.”