- Mwafujo was first arrested on October 24, 2016, and later arraigned at the Kwale chief magistrate's court with 10 terrorism charges.
- On March 18, the court acquitted Mwafujo of all 10 counts of the terror-related charges. His release order was served upon Shimo la Tewa through an email.
Image: STEVE MOKAYA
Amani Mohamed Mwafujo returned home to his family at Majengo in Mombasa on Saturday morning after five months of abduction.
Mwafujo, 35, was dramatically arrested in March after he had completed his six-year jail term at Shimo la Tewa Prison on terror-related charges.
He was arrested by people suspected to be police officers the same day he was released from prison.
Mwafujo was too terrified to narrate where he had been for five months. He said his abductors set him free at Mariakani and gave him Sh5,000.
The victim traced his way home and reunited with his family in Majengo at around 7am, family members confirmed.
Mwafujo was first arrested on October 24, 2016, and later arraigned at the Kwale chief magistrate's court with 10 terrorism charges.
He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The case would however be held until March this year.
On March 18, the court acquitted Mwafujo of all 10 counts of the terror-related charges. His release order was served upon Shimo la Tewa through an email.
Mwafujo was released the same day but was still illegally held in the facility until March 21. He was set free and left the prison in his sister's company, at around 10am.
While outside Shimo la Tewa Prison main gate, Mwafujo was greeted by a stranger that they suspected to be a security agent, who was in plain clothes.
Mwafujo and his sister then boarded a matatu for Likoni, but they were blocked at the Shanzu stage and Mwafujo was forcefully pulled out of the matatu and bundled in a waiting motor vehicle.
The reason for the arrest remained unknown and no one knows where he has been.
Francis Auma a rapid response officer of Muslims for Human Rights, a coast-based human rights group caught up with Mwafujo on Saturday at his home in Majengo.
Auma said the returnee was uncomfortable with opening up about his experience in the hands of his abductors.
However, he said he was being held in an unknown location and kept being transferred from one place to another by road and sometimes by air.
Mwafujo was also well taken care of by his abductors and was even allowed to worship in his room.
“He did not speak much about the tribulation he underwent while at the hands of his abductors.
"He narrated that he was in a closed room in an unknown location and was occasionally blindfolded whenever he was moved around by his abductors,” Auma said.
The officer however blamed the government for the unwarranted untold suffering of Mwafujo and many other coastal residents who have mysteriously disappeared from their homes.
"We strongly believe that Mwafujo was abducted by state agents.
"It is not the first time we hear of a case where someone is abducted in broad daylight without the police bothering to follow up," he said.
Auma said enforced disappearances and killings without trial, warrant of arrest or any prosecution are impunity and are also taking a toll on the mental health of the affected individuals and their loved ones.
"The mental torture is worsened by the fact that family members find themselves in a situation where they do not know the fate of their relative who has disappeared," he said.
Auma appealed to the 13th Parliament to look into the matter and enact legislation on enforced disappearances and unlawful killings.
Cases of mysterious disappearances at the Coast region are not new and there has been a loud suspicion that the police are behind such occurrences.
However, the police department has always refuted those allegations.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)