Nairobi — A former Mandera County Government driver assigned to two Cuban doctors abducted in 2019 has been found guilty of kidnapping.
During a ruling by Milimani law Courts Magistrate Martha Nanzushi on Wednesday, Issack Ibrein Robow was found guilty and convicted for being involved in the kidnapping of Landy Rodriguez, a surgeon and Herera Correa, a general physician.
While convicting the driver, the magistrate noted that the Prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that he was actively involved in the commission of a terrorist act, kidnapping and hostage taking, aiding and abetting a terrorist act.
“After evaluating the evidence on record, I find the prosecution has proved the charges against the accused person herein and l convict him accordingly under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),”Nanzushi ruled.
Ibrein is said to have handed over the doctors to terrorist on April 12, 2019, while driving them to Mandera Referral Hospital using a government vehicle.
On the material day at around 9.00am, the medics were being driven by the accused and in the escort of two police officers before they were ambushed by Al Shabaab militia who blocked the way with two pro-boxes as they started shooting.
The militia managed to escape to the neighboring Somalia with the doctors who went missing for over two months before they were released.
However, one of the Administration police constables who was escorting the medics was shot dead during the incident.
Ibrein was arrested on April 12, 2019, in Mandera by the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) officers and flown to Nairobi on April 14, 2019, to be interrogated and arraigned.
According to the evidence presented, the suspect who was a driver attached to Mandera County Government was using two mobile phone numbers to communicate with the terrorists.
The court has however acquitted Ibrein on the charges of falsely obtaining a Kenya identity card for lack of evidence.
However, magistrate Nanzushi ordered the driver to be detained in custody pending sentencing on March 2, 2022.