Teenager discloses how he was enlisted into Al Shabaab

A teenage boy recounted in court how he was lured to join the Al Shabaab terror group in a desperate attempt to avenge his father's death.

Testifying before the Kahawa Law Court recently, the boy, code-named MMC, identified one Abdikarim Hassanow Hassan, alias Ali, as the person who introduced him to radicalisation.

The 17-year-old made his narration on the day the state closed its submissions against Hassan, who is accused of recruiting the boy.

MMC told the court he met Hassan in Kehancha before he found himself in Somalia to join the terror outfit. The boy was the star witness in the case.

He claimed Hassan taught him how to pray in Islam before giving him bus fare to travel to Somalia to "train how to use a gun" in an alleged attempt to avenge his father's death.

In his testimony, MMC said that he had gone to Mali Complex in Kehancha town of Migori County to buy a mobile phone on August 26, 2024, when he met Hassan.

In their conversation, Hassan allegedly informed him that he was from Somalia and had settled in the town due to the tough war situation back home and lack of customers.

MMC testified that Hassan convinced him it was easy to travel to Somalia and urged him to convert to Islam.

According to the teenager, the motivation to travel to Somalia was to receive training on how to use a gun so that he could avenge his father's death.

The teenager told the court Islam lessons were conducted at a specific location where it was just him and Hassan.

He was taught how to clean himself and pray before he was given the name Farhan, an Arabic name that means blessed, delightful, and hopeful.

In his testimony, MMC said that the two allegedly met again at the Complex on January 15, 2025, and his now religious teacher told him that those who profess Islamic faith would go to heaven when they die and not live life as a bird.

MMC told the court that Hassan asked him to find bus fare to move from Kehancha to Nairobi, promising to cover the fare for the remaining part of the journey from Kenya's capital to the Horn of Africa nation.

MMC hatched a plan that coincided with an upcoming scouting trip. He requested his uncle to facilitate him with money for the trip to Taranganya since he was a scout member.

He was given Sh1,200 and left home for the camp. MMC testified that Hassan had asked him to keep their plan secret, including his conversion to Islam.

Meanwhile, Hassan drew the sneaking plan either from Nairobi to Wajir through Garissa or the Nairobi-Mombasa-Lamu route and then crossed over through Boni Forest.

Armed with his Sh1,200, MMC met Hassan for one last time, and he was given instructions, which included not eating anything during the journey.

He was given oranges and a lemon, which Hassan said were the only things he could take, and was to stay in school uniform for easy identification.

The teen started his journey to Somalia on March 10, armed with an atlas with a sketch map that had the two routes joined using dots and some Sh5,000 that Hassan had promised him to cover his fare.

He was also given a book with a prayer written in it, which he was to recite during the journey.

He boarded a Nyamira Express bus at Kehancha, arriving in Nairobi the following day.

He took the Garissa-bound Alma Air bus and paid Sh1,500.

True to Hassan's word, a Somali man picked him up and escorted him to a Probox that took him to Dadaab for Sh50.

MMC said that the vehicle, however, did not get to Dadaab. Instead they were dropped at Dagahali, after which he boarded another vehicle, a Toyota Alto that ferried them to Dadaab for Sh50.

He testified that the instructions were that he was to wait near a tree at the main stage in Dadaab, where someone would pick him up for the journey to Somalia.

He waited from 9pm to 10pm, which raised suspicion among locals, who then called the area chief.

Upon interrogation, MMC lied and said he was waiting for his uncle to come pick him up, but when probed further, he failed to give a satisfactory account.

He was taken to the police, where he recorded a statement and spent the night before taking the journey back to Kehancha the following day. He found his family searching for him.

He was accompanied by police officers from Dadaab.