Journalist Mascuud Warsame tells SJS about his 39-day ordeal in Somalia's spy agency detention facility

On 30 June 2026, Mascuud Warsame, journalist and founder of an online media platform, Xogbile, was kidnapped by three armed NISA officers shortly after leaving his workplace on Maka Al-Mukarama Avenue in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Mascuud was held in a NISA detention facility until his release on 8 August 2026 without charge and was never brought before a court. For the first time, Mascuud Warsame has spoken to SJS about his ordeal inside the NISA detention facility. Mascuud, 35, said that on the night of his abduction, three NISA officers drove him to a police station in Hodan district, central Mogadishu, where he was held until the following day without food or water. He said NISA commander in charge of Southwest State, Salah Abdi Nur, also known as Moalin Salah, interrogated him in his cell for most of the night, depriving him of sleep. He was later transferred to a second detention facility near Mogadishu port, which security sources described as one of NISA's largest detention facilities. Mascuud revealed that while held at the facility known as "Godka Jilaow 2," he was repeatedly interrogated about his social media activity and Xogbile's reporting critical of the new Southwest State leadership. According to security sources, Godka Jilaow 2 is a prison facility primarily used to hold suspected Al-Shabaab militants. "Throughout my detention, I was held in a dark and hot cell. There were other inmates also detained in the cell where I stayed," Mascuud told SJS. Mascuud described a harrowing experience that caused his health to deteriorate while in detention. He said he collapsed twice inside the cell and was subsequently taken to a doctor under the observation of armed NISA officers. During his 39 days in NISA detention, Mascuud said he was allowed to speak to his wife only twice. "They gave me a phone and the officer said to me, 'Do not tell them about your situation or where you are being held. Just say to them I am OK and I will come,' which I did," he said. "There was nothing else I could do because they were threatening me." While in the cell, Mascuud said he lost his appetite and rarely spoke to other inmates because he felt depressed. He also said his stomach condition worsened because the food provided to detainees was of poor nutritional quality and insufficient. One morning, a NISA officer told Mascuud that SJS was advocating for his release. He said this was when the pressure on him began to ease, and officers subsequently told him several times that he would soon be released, although it was delayed twice. Mascuud's detention began after a Facebook page associated with the Southwest State presidency was reportedly hacked and its content deleted, as SJS had previously reported. He said that when he was initially taken into detention, officers questioned him about the Southwest State Facebook page, with which he said he had no connection. "The interrogation then shifted to why I was criticizing Adan Madobe," Mascuud said, referring to Southwest State's new leader, Adan Mohamed Nur "Madobe," who is also the former Speaker of Somalia's Lower House of Parliament. Mascuud Warsame. | Photo credit: Mascuud Warsame. Among the reports specifically mentioned during the interrogations was a piece published on Xogbile's Facebook page on 2 June 2026 that questioned the credibility of the Southwest State elections. Another report, published on 1 May 2026, examined what Xogbile described as failures in Adan Madobe's previous leadership. The final interrogation took place on 29 July, when a NISA officer told Mascuud that he would be released. However, his release was delayed for several more days. "He said to me that they were waiting for a decision to release me," Mascuud said. Upon his release on Saturday, 8 August, Mascuud was already weak and suffering from a high fever. After seeing a doctor, he said he was diagnosed with malaria and allergic conditions that he developed while in detention. SJS welcomes the release of Mascuud Warsame. However, it is deeply troubling that he spent 39 days in a detention facility reportedly used by NISA for suspected Al-Shabaab detainees, where his health deteriorated, he was denied regular access to his family and legal representation, and he was never brought before a judge. SJS has previously expressed concerns that NISA, which is not a lawful arresting authority, is repeatedly being used to target, intimidate and harass journalists simply because of reporting deemed unfavorable by the authorities. We call for an immediate end to the use of intelligence and security agencies to unlawfully detain journalists and interfere with their work. Journalists must be allowed to carry out their professional duties without fear of abduction, intimidation or arbitrary detention. "SJS welcomes the release of our colleague Mascuud Warsame, however his 39 days of arbitrary detention without charge or access to a judge are deeply disturbing. No journalist should be abducted, held incommunicado, or subjected to intimidation, denial of food and family access which amounts to torture," said SJS Secretary General, Abdalle Mumin "We call on the Somali authorities to end the misuse of NISA against journalists and ensure that media freedom and due process are respected." Source: Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS)