Former Religious and Endowment Minister of Somalia’s Federal Government, Honorable Sheikh Omar Ali Roble, issued a press release on Tuesday addressing the issues of widespread land grabbing, political oppression, and a recent raid on his family and home. According to the minister, at around 3:00 am, soldiers – specifically police-military and presidential palace guards – without an arrest warrant, raided his house. As a former minister of religious and endowment affairs and a Somali citizen who has served the nation for a long time, he believes it is his national duty to share with the Somali people the atrocities he and other citizens have faced, which demonstrate the collapse of the rule of law and lack of protection for justice. He describes the raid as politically motivated and alleges that former lawmakers Mohamed Ibrahim Ali, also known as Mohamed Ajib, and Abdiqani Sheikh Mohamud, son of the current Somali President, gave the orders for the soldiers to ransack his house. The minister claims that his house was deliberately demolished and his belongings, estimated to be worth 500,000 US dollars, were vandalized and looted. He also accuses the soldiers of torturing one of his children and destroying his houses, which have official documents. The minister emphasizes that this is not a personal or political conflict, but rather a case of land grabbing by those in power, aimed at silencing those who speak out against oppression. He reveals that he was kidnapped on September 25, 2025, by the orders of the Somali President, for his outspoken stance against illegal embezzlement, looting, and suppression of Somali citizens, which goes against the constitution of the Federal Government. The minister vows to continue speaking out for what is right and defending the oppressed, despite the violation of his own rights. He calls on the bicameral parliament, justice institutions, human rights groups, politicians, religious scholars, elders, and the Somali people to take immediate action to prevent land grabbing, evictions, and attacks on civilians in Mogadishu. He believes that those responsible for these violations will be brought to justice.
