Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, currently visiting the Aden Yabal district in the Middle Shabelle region, has urged residents to avoid illegal checkpoints throughout the area.
During a meeting with the Aden Yabal community on Sunday, President Hassan Sheikh expressed his disappointment that the Middle Shabelle region continues to suffer from the presence of illegal checkpoints, resulting in harassment of local residents.
“The government cannot station troops everywhere, but local people are present everywhere, so they can work on fighting this issue,” President Hassan Sheikh emphasized. He stressed the importance of addressing this problem as there is no greater enemy than those who establish illegal checkpoints.
The president said checkpoints had been successfully removed in other parts of Somalia. He added that it is unfortunate that there are still many checkpoints in the Middle Shabelle region where people are harassed. It is a shame for the locals who have done nothing to address this problem.
In November last year, security forces in central Somalia arrested a Somali soldier for shooting a minibus driver dead during a dispute at an illegal checkpoint near Balcad town.
The illegal checkpoint was set up by rogue soldiers who reportedly demanded a payment of about 100,000 Somali shillings, or about 5$. The minibus driver told the soldier that he could only pay 90,000 shillings before an argument ensued, and the driver was shot dead.
