MOGADISHU, Somalia 2 July 2026 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) urges the Somalia National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) to immediately disclose the whereabouts of journalist Mascuud Warsame, who was abducted by NISA officers on the night of Tuesday, 30 June 2026, in Mogadishu. SJS further demands NISA to grant Mascuud’s family and legal representatives prompt access to visit him and ensure his safety and well-being first.
Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, Mascuud Warsame, the founder of the Mogadishu-based online media platform Xogbile, was abducted by armed NISA officers outside his office on Maka Al-Mukarama Road in Mogadishu. The officers who drove unmarked car took him to an undisclosed location, according to family and colleagues, who spoke to SJS. He was not seen since then and his phone remains off.
On the morning of Wednesday, 1 July, Mascuud’s wife went to the Hodan District Police Station to inquire about his whereabouts but was told that he was not being held there. On Thursday, a security source told SJS that Mascuud was being held at a NISA detention facility at an undisclosed location. The source did not provide any explanation as to why the journalist had been taken.
NISA officials in Mogadishu did not respond to SJS’s requests for information at the time.
Mascuud’s colleagues told SJS that they did not know why he had been abducted by NISA. His family also said they had received no communication regarding his detention and remained unaware of his whereabouts as of Thursday evening.
A second colleague told SJS that several days before the abduction, Mascuud received a phone call from Salah Abdi Nur, commonly known as Moalin Salah, a NISA officer responsible for Southwest State and a former Al-Shabaab defector. According to the colleague, Moalin Salah accused Mascuud “of being critical of Southwest State’s new leadership” and alleged that he might have had “knowledge” of the recent removal of content from the official Facebook page of the Southwest State presidency.
On 30 June, as some local media reported, the Facebook page associated with Southwest State presidency had displayed content affiliated with the ousted Southwest State President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed “Laftagareen”, including a message congratulating Somalis on Independence Day, observed on 1 July, as well as a video featuring the former Southwest State government spokesperson.
It remains unclear who accessed the Facebook page or how the content was removed.
Colleagues said Mascuud has no affiliation with rival political groups in Baidoa and believe he was targeted solely because he comes originally from Baidoa.
Xogbile is a Mogadishu-based media platform best known for its social debate programmes and street vox-pop interviews, many of which focus on political issues. Mascuud is originally from Baidoa in Southwest State, where tensions remain high following repeated clashes between forces aligned with the Somalia Federal Government-backed administration of the new Southwest State leader, Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe, and forces loyal to the ousted former president Laftagareen.
Late on Thursday 2 July, an SJS security contact said the Southwest State leadership in Baidoa was “involved” in Mascuud’s “detention”. The source added that NISA in Mogadishu had received “a request to hand over” the journalist to the authorities in Baidoa without giving further details.
SJS demands that NISA immediately disclose the whereabouts of Mascuud Warsame and allow his family and legal representatives to see him, and ensure his safety and well-being at all times. We also demand that he should be released unless the authorities can present credible evidence of wrongdoing and bring formal charges in accordance with the law.
“The abduction of journalist Mascuud Warsame by NISA is an outrageous attack on press freedom and a blatant violation of his fundamental rights. We utterly condemn holding him incommunicado without legal justification, which raises serious concerns about his safety and well-being,” said the SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin.
“We call on NISA to release Mascuud immediately and unconditionally, disclose his whereabouts without further delay, and ensure that he is safe and free from any form of abuse while in custody. He must be released unless there is credible evidence of wrongdoing,” added Mr. Mumin. “We are also concerned about the threats and intimidation against Mascuud’s colleagues at Xogbile Media carrying out their professional duties in Somalia. This must stop.”