Mandera police arrest four Somali nationals over possession of Kenyan ID cards

Police in Mandera County are holding four Somali nationals suspected of having illegally acquired Kenyan national identity cards.

Abdinoor Abdullahi, 41, Habiba Abdinoor Abdullahi, 23, Abdirahim Abdinoor Abdullahi, 21), and Abdirahim Abdinoor Abdullahi, 22, were arrested on Tuesday morning by a multi-agency security team in Mandera East sub-county.

Although the elder Abdinoor claimed the three are his children, police believe the man is allegedly behind a human trafficking syndicate, and was trying to sneak the three into the country, having facilitated the acquisition of Kenyan ID cards.

The man told police that he is a Kenyan married to a Somali and their children were accompanying him on a visit to Kenya.

Not convinced with the account given by Abdinoor, detectives subjected the suspects to interrogation and established that they had Kenyan national ID cards bearing almost identical names.

“Mandera being a human trafficking corridor, we were not satisfied with his version, and placed him in custody alongside the other three suspects pending further investigations to establish whether indeed the children are his,” said Mandera County police commander Robinson Ndiwa.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the four had travelled from Mogadishu to Luq before crossing into Kenya through an unknown entry point, and spent two nights at a hotel in Mandera.

Their mobile phones have since been confiscated and handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (APTU) for analysis as detectives seek 21-day custodial orders.

Ndiwa said police officers are alert to attempts by foreigners acquire Kenyan citizens. In the recent past, police have managed to arrest several Somali nationals found in possession of Kenyan ID cards.

Last month, a Somali national was arrested in Wajir County while attempting to secure employment using a Kenyan ID card.

Abdi Hassan Ibrahim was apprehended at Johwar location in Wajir East, where he was allegedly searching for a job. He told the local chief, Mohamed Issack Abdille, that he had travelled from Garissa County.

Upon interrogation, he failed to give a satisfactory account of his presence in the country. The 37-year-old was handed over to the APTU. During questioning, he claimed that he had come to Kenya to look for a herdsman’s job.

The man’s arrest came a day after President William Ruto announced in Mandera County that the Kenya–Somalia border would be reopened after a 15-year closure imposed following the Al-Shabaab insurgency.

In November last year, a Somali national was arrested in Mandera County while in the process of acquiring Kenyan citizenship.

Assa Ali Issack was nabbed by APTU officers at Bulla Hawa, Mandera East, while trying to cross into Kenya.

The 31-year-old was found in possession of a Kenyan application for registration form, which he allegedly obtained from the Registrar of Persons offices in Saudi Arabia.

In the same month, Hajir Mohamed Garat was arrested in Ijara, Garissa County, in connection with the issuance of fake birth and death certificates.

Several blank and partially filled birth notification forms, death notification forms, birth certificates, death certificates and rubber stamps were recovered from his cybercafé in Masalani centre.

Mohamed’s arrest came about two weeks after two people were arrested in Garissa for allegedly fraudulently obtaining a birth certificate.

The suspects, 14-year-old Ayan Nur Hassan and 20-year-old Mohamed Moulid Mohamed, were arrested at a police barrier at Tana Bridge on November 6, 2025. Nur was found in possession of birth certificate s/no. 206834 entry no. l08915100563 bearing her full name while Moulid was accused of facilitating entry into Kenya of the teenager.

On the same day, 19-year-old Nima Hussein Elmi was arrested at the Mandera airstrip as she prepared to board a plane to Nairobi.

She was found in possession of a Kenyan ID no 540895256, and upon questioning, she said that she was born in Luuq, Somalia. The multi-agency recovered from her Somali passport number p01742298 bearing the name Nima Hussein Elmi.