ATPU, NIS named in missing lawyer's abduction case

Lawyer Abshir Ahmedsadak Abdi was allegedly bundled into a vehicle by armed men in Nairobi on November 1, 2026. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

What began as a mundane dispute over unpaid mobile phones has spiraled into a chilling exposé of alleged state-sanctioned abduction, terror tactics, and the weaponisation of Kenya’s elite security apparatus.

In explosive court documents filed at the Milimani High Court, a Nairobi businessman claims that the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) have been transformed into a private militia for a fraud suspect, used to abduct, interrogate, and threaten witnesses with fabricated terrorism charges in a brazen attempt to collapse a criminal case.

The root cause of the nightmare, according to sworn affidavits, is a simple transaction gone wrong. Between June 15 and July 15, 2024, the accused, Ahmed Ali Mohamed, allegedly acquired mobile phones from complainant Ahmed Abdi Hassan on a promise to pay. He never did.

Hassan reported the matter at Pangani Police Station under OB number 03/08/10/04/2024, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in Makadara recommended charges under Section 313 of the Penal Code for obtaining goods by false pretense.

Instead of facing the music in court, Hassan claims Mohamed unleashed a campaign of terror, spearheaded by rogue officers within the ATPU and NIS.

As of the filing of the application, the matter has been in court more than ten times, with the accused allegedly deploying state machinery to ensure it never sees a conclusion.

The case reached a terrifying crescendo on October 9, 2025, when Hassan’s key witness, Ahmedsadak Abdi Abshir, was allegedly abducted from his home in Nairobi. According to Abshir’s supporting affidavit, the operation was orchestrated with military precision and deceit.

Two men identified as Siyad Mohamed and Abdirahman initially masqueraded as employees of the estate’s management company to gain access to his compound. Once the gates were open, they handed him over to waiting ATPU officers.

Abshir was taken to the ATPU headquarters, where he claims he was subjected to an aggressive, highly illegal interrogation. The objective was not to investigate a crime, but to force him to sabotage his own case.

“They informed me in a harsh and intimidating manner that I had to prevail over the accused person in this matter to withdraw the charges before 28th October 2025,” Abshir deposes.

When he resisted, the threats escalated to the highest level of severity. Abshir states he was openly warned that if he did not force the complainant to drop the case, the ATPU would fabricate terrorism-related charges against him and keep him detained.

“They openly threatened me that if I failed to prevail over the accused person to withdraw the charges, they will make sure that they craft trumped up charges including terrorism related and have me detained at ATPU so that I do not attend Court,” his affidavit reads. “The threats were followed with insults in Somali language.”

Abshir’s ordeal was far from over. On October 11,2025 he was released unconditionally with a P52 form, only to be re-arrested before he could even clear the ATPU gate. He was eventually arraigned at Kahawa Law Courts on October 13, 205 where the investigating officer, Mr. Some, sought custodial orders.

However, in a rare moment of judicial pushback, learned prosecutors declined to approve the Miscellaneous Application for custodial orders, forcing the police to release him unconditionally later that day.

The complainant, Hassan, argues in his affidavit that this is not a case of overzealous policing, but a coordinated conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice. He notes that he himself was picked up by ATPU officers and NIS personnel, subjected to arm-twisting, and coerced to drop the charges.

“We were being pushed, threatened, arm twisted and coerced to withdraw this matter,” Hassan states regarding his own encounter with the ATPU. “From the foregoing, it is evident that a plan had been hatched to intimidate us to withdraw the matter and ATPU was to be used as the tool.”

The complainant’s legal team, Mugeria, Lempaa and Kariuki Advocates, has taken the fight directly to the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Amin Mohamed Ibrahim, detailing a harrowing escalation of threats.

 In an official complaint letter dated October 25, the lawyers claim that NIS officers have been spearheading ATPU operations, brandishing firearms in interrogation rooms, and even utilizing an ATPU vehicle, a white Nissan Patrol registered KAU 823V, to run intimidation errands.

The lawyers further allege that NIS officers are openly ordering Kenyans to withdraw active criminal matters, operating with unbridled latitude and impunity.

The documents reveal that during the October 24 interrogations at the ATPU offices in Upperhill, the threats reached a fever pitch.

“On 24th October 2025 at the ATPU offices in Upperhill at the interview room, Mr. Siyad told Ahmed Abdi Hassan that in the event he does not withdraw the case he will be detained at ATPU cells so that he does not appear in Court on 29th October 2025,” the complaint letter states.

The letter further details the psychological torture inflicted on the complainant.

“Further to the foregoing Mr. Abdirahman brandished a gun during the interview. Mr. Siyad continued threatening him by telling him that he will finish him. He continued threatening him as long as the case is active in court, he is in a big hole and he will die. He concluded his threats by warning Ahmed Abdi Hassan that if he made Ahmedsadak Abhir to be arrested and he is an advocate he should imagine what he will do to him being a small person.”

The lawyers note that these chilling threats were made in Somali language on Friday, October 24, 2025, in the presence of the investigating officer, Mr. Karanja.

They also state that on October 22, the complainant was informed by a close associate of the accused that ATPU officers were looking for him, confirming that the officers had been sent to intimidate him for the purposes of withdrawing the criminal case at Makadara Law Courts.

The harassment has not been limited to the police cells. The court documents reveal a desperate attempt by the security apparatus to access the complainant's private data without legal authority.

“ATPU officers pleaded with me to allow them to exploit my electronic gadgets and undertake search of my house but I declined and asked them respectfully to obtain a court order from Kahawa Law Courts,” Hassan deposes.

It is a glaring indicator, the lawyers argue, of a rogue operation.

“Why is the investigating officer wants our Clients to voluntarily consent to exploitation of their mobile devices and searches at their homes instead of getting a court order as ATPU does? Is it that these investigations are being done off book or unofficially?” the complaint letter poses.

The official complaint to the DCI does not mince words, questioning the very foundation of the ATPU’s involvement in a commercial fraud case.

The lawyers demand to know why NIS officers are leading interrogations, why they are allowed to openly use ATPU facilities, and who the greatest beneficiary of this intimidation is.

“Why are NIS officers leading and spearheading ATPU operations? Why are NIS officers leading interrogations at ATPU? Why are NIS officers being allowed to openly use ATPU facilities including motor vehicles to threaten and intimidate Kenyans for purposes of defeating justice? Why are NIS officers openly brandishing guns during interrogations at ATPU?” the letter demands.

The legal team further questions if citizens can hire the ATPU as a private militia. “Can citizens hire ATPU as private militia, mercenaries or mafia to undertake their illegal and unlawful activities like threatening Kenyans to withdraw cases in Court? These questions lie squarely on your door step as the Director of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.”

The lawyers are now calling for the immediate transfer of the police file to an independent unit of the DCI that can investigate the matter impartially, citing a profound lack of faith in the ATPU Nairobi Detachment.

They are also demanding that the OCS of the ATPU and the investigating officers appear before the Makadara Law Courts on October 29 to explain why they are intimidating witnesses.

“Further to the foregoing, the million-dollar question that begs for an answer. How many innocent Kenyans have fallen prey to such impunity? How many times has ATPU specifically Nairobi Detachment being weaponized against Kenyans to undertake threats, executions and other unlawful and illegal activities? How many officers drawn from ATPU are being used privately to undertake such unlawful and illegal activities?” the letter reads.

The situation has prompted Hassan to plead with the Chief Magistrates Court at Makadara to intervene, arguing that witness intimidation is a profound affront to the rule of law. In his affidavit, he paints a picture of a man whose life has been turned upside down by a simple refusal to let go of a fraud case.

“On several occasions the accused person has threatened me with actual bodily harm, arrests and detention. At one point, the accused person and her relative one Nimo Adan threatened me with death by stabbing if I do not withdraw this matter,” Hassan states.

He is now pleading with the court to cancel the bail granted to the accused, arguing that the justice system cannot turn a blind eye while its own elite units are used to sabotage the courts.

“That this Honourable Court as the custodian of justice, the last line of defense in the criminal justice system cannot turn a blind eye to such grave allegations because the same can impact negatively on the administration of justice,” Hassan urges.

 “That intimidation and interference with witnesses is an affront to the administration of Justice and therefore a compelling reason to cancel bail granted to the accused person by this Honourable Court.”

As the ODPP and the DCI grapple with the fallout of these explosive allegations, which include accusations of officers masquerading as civilians, holding lawyers incommunicado, threatening to frame them as terrorists, and brandishing firearms in interrogation rooms.

Meanwhile, police investigating Abshir's disappearance admitted in court that they were yet to establish who abducted him, with an ATPU officer confirming that the advocate had previously been arrested and detained at the unit in October last year.

Three officers from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) appeared before Judge Alexander Muteti to explain what they knew about the advocate's disappearance.

Their testimony came after the court ordered security agencies to produce Abdi dead or alive following his alleged abduction along Muchai Road, off Ngong Road, on November 1.

However, the officers failed to account for his whereabouts, maintaining that he was not in their custody or any police holding facility in the country.

ATPU officer Nicholas Kimanthi told the court that he learnt about the disappearance through social media but had taken no action, arguing that the matter fell under Kilimani Police Station's jurisdiction.

"My lord, from what I saw in the news, that was Kilimani area. So I expect that matter to be under the Kilimani jurisdiction," he said.

Pressed on whether he had made inquiries, he responded: "I did not, my lord."

Kimanthi, however, confirmed that Abdi had been arrested on October 9, 2025, while businessman Ahmed Ali Mohamed was also arrested and detained at ATPU on October 24, 2025. Both were released without being charged.

On his side, Chief Inspector Vitalis Kibet, the officer commanding the ATPU Nairobi Detachment, told the judge that the unit had received intelligence reports in August 2025 linking Abdi and businessman Ahmed Abdi Hassan to an alleged extortion network exploiting counter-terrorism operations.

"My lord, the office of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, formerly of HBU, received actionable intelligence reports on a ring of extortionists abusing counter-terrorism operations in the city, Nairobi, to solicit bribes from members of the public," he said.

However, Kibet denied that Abdi was being held at the unit.

"I am the OCS, and from the date the subject disappeared, I have never come across his name in the Occurrence Book or the register," he said.

DCI Kilimani investigating officer Corporal Dennis Mwenda told the court that police recovered Abdi's white Toyota Premio, registration KDL 356C, lying on its side in a drainage ditch along Muchai Road.

He said officers made inquiries and established that Abdi was not being held at any police station.

"We made verbal inquiries and established that the lawyer is not in custody in Nairobi or in any other police station in the country," he said.

The judge postponed the proceedings to today at 10am when additional police officers are expected to testify.