By Dawan Africa - Reporter
Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-Violent protests erupted in Mogadishu city on Sunday following the arrest of former military officer, Gen. Shegow Ahmed Ali by the police on Saturday.
The protests escalated into violence, with demonstrators blocking roads and destroying to kiosks, shops, and properties.
The police officers have resorted to using tear gas and live bullets as they attempted to control the situation.
Protesters stated that Gen. Shegow’s arrest was unlawful and based on tribal profiling.
“General Shegow is an officer who has served in the National Army, and his arrest was illegal. We will continue with these demonstrations until he is released from the cell,” affirmed one of General Sheegow’s supporters.
Peaceful demonstrations have also arisen in Bulo Burte, located within the Hiraan region, as the community has taken to the streets to express their opposition to the arrest of the former Military Officer.
During these demonstrations, participants displayed their weapons, accusing the Federal Government of orchestrating the arrest based on community profiling.
They issued a strong warning to the government, declaring that unless General Sheegow is released from cell, the situation will escalate further.
Abdirahman Abdishakur, the Special Presidential Envoy on Drought Response, unequivocally condemned the employment of live ammunition by the police, characterizing their actions as criminal.
“While I do not endorse the destruction of property by the protestors, I strongly condemn the use of live bullets against demonstrators in Mogadishu today,” he articulated.
“It is unfortunate that the government has not addressed the use of live bullets by the police. What we witnessed today was totally a crime.”
Hon. Abdirahman criticized the arrest of General Sheegow as unconstitutional and accused the police of diverting attention away from the offensive against Al-Shabaab militants.
“Shegow is a military officer, and if he has committed an offense, a military court should issue an arrest warrant, publicly announce the operation against him and his rights should have been safeguarded. Contrary to the legal procedures, what the police did was to divert the attention from the government’s efforts against Al-Shabaab terrorists,” he elaborated.
General Shegow’s arrest came after a fierce confrontation between a group of armed men led by him and the police forces in Dharkenley district in Mogadishu, as stated by the Police Spokesperson, Gen. Sadiq Dudishe.
The Police Spokesperson announced that one soldier from the Paramilitary police department was killed during the clash, while two members of the armed group were killed, and several others sustained injuries.
“We lost a soldier, and two of our forces were injured in the fight. Our force have also killed two militants while seven others sustained injuries,” he said yesterday.
