02/21/2022 Kenya (International Christian Concern) – A Kenyan medical officer was abducted Friday, February 18th, after Somali-based al-Shabaab militants stormed Fino hospital in Lafey, Mandera County. In a statement, Police reported that,

“Jackson Kabuu, a medical officer-in-charge, was whisked away from the hospital’s staff houses alongside two other doctors when ten gunmen forcefully gained entry into the hospital at 7:30 PM, but later released the two.”

Lafey lies east of Northern Kenya, approximately three miles from the porous Kenya-Somalia border, where Al-Shabaab members cross in and out to stage attacks. The Kenyan Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has complained about the security lax to protect medical staff in Mandera County.

“Despite our calls for enhanced security for essential service providers operating in these polarized regions, it is disappointing that serious security incidents continue to occur. Article 29 of our Kenyan Constitution gives every Kenyan the right to security. Therefore, we cannot take a backstage as Kenyans get denied their fundamental right,” cited George Gibore, the KUCO Secretary.

The union further asked the government to explain to the public the circumstances under which the three medics were kidnapped, and the measures are taken to ensure Kabuu’s rescue.

Coincidentally, this incident happened the same week when Isaack Robow, a driver assigned to two Cuban doctors abducted in 2019 in Mandera, was convicted under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) for collaborating with the al-Shabaab terrorists. The Nairobi court proved through recorded evidence that Issack willingly stopped the vehicle transporting the two foreign doctors and allowed them to be abducted by the terrorists. The two doctors were part of the hundred medical practitioners from Cuba working in Kenya under an exchange program between the two countries.

Since 2011, when Kenya sent its troops into Somalia, Northeastern Kenya has seen hundreds of non-local Christians killed or kidnapped by the terror group, which has led to massive transfers of teachers and other civil servants from the region. A local church leader in Mandera observes,

“Education, transport, health, and trade in the region have been polarized by the never-ending attacks by the al-Shabaab members from our neighboring county. There is a general shortage of teachers, medical officers, and business people because nonlocal residents have been targeted due to their faith. It is unfortunate that the few Christians that have put their lives in danger to serve Kenyans here, the majority of who are of Somali ethnic descent, are being killed and kidnapped.”

He added,

“We are asking believers worldwide to rally behind us in prayer as we seek to fulfill Christ’s mission in this region with dozens of Islamic insurgents roaming freely.”

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