Shop owners in Somalia\u2019s capital, Mogadishu, are caught between a rock and a hard place over a government directive that they install CCTV cameras outside their businesses to intensify surveillance of Islamist insurgents who have a strong presence in the city.<\/p>\n
The businessmen say if they put up the cameras they risk being gunned down by the al-Shabab insurgents, and if they do not, they could be arrested by the police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CCTV cameras are why you now see me at home,\u201d says former shop-owner Hamza Nuur, 48, as he sits on a sofa holding one of his children.<\/p>\n
He tells the BBC that he took the painful decision to sell his business to avoid incurring the wrath of either side.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re told not to remove the cameras by one side and then you\u2019re told to remove the cameras by the other side. Depending on the choice you make, you\u2019ll either have a bullet or prison cell waiting for you,\u201d Mr Nuur adds.<\/p>\n
The government issued a directive last year to shop-owners to install CCTV cameras \u2013 at their own cost \u2013 to deter attacks by al-Shabab.<\/p>\n
Mogadishu\u2019s Deputy Mayor Mohamed Ahmed Diriye tells the\u00a0BBC Africa Daily podcast\u00a0that the decision has paid off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be four or five bombings per month in Mogadishu but that\u2019s no longer the case,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The government has now ordered residents to install the cameras outside homes and apartment blocks, raising fears among many people that al-Shabab could bring its war into their homes.<\/p>\n
Since October, al-Shabab has killed four businessmen in 10 attacks related to the installation of CCTV cameras, according to a leading violence monitoring group, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (Acled).<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s directive was aimed at ultimately disrupting al-Shabab\u2019s sources of funding as it extorts money out of shop-owners, but the retaliatory attacks by the insurgents \u201chave forced many businesses in Mogadishu\u2019s main markets to close their doors for days\u201d, Acled adds\u00a0in a report published on its website.<\/p>\n
Mr Nuur says that at first he ignored the government\u2019s directive but was forced to install the cameras after being confronted by members of the security forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to explain to them I was just a poor man and didn\u2019t want to get involved with the government but they got angry and began threatening me, saying they\u2019ll ruin my life,\u201d he tells the BBC.<\/p>\n
Mr Nuur says that once he installed a CCTV camera, he began receiving phone calls from unrecognisable numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy body started shivering from the inside. I knew who it was,\u201d he says, referring to al-Shabab operatives who have a well-entrenched spy network, allowing them to get information about civilians like Mr Nuur.<\/p>\n
Mr Nuur says he changed his number, only for a young man to walk up to him in his shop one morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe lifted his shirt. He had a pistol in his waist. He ordered me to turn on my SIM card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Nuur says he acquiesced, and the phone rang, with the anonymous caller wanting to know whether \u201cthe government\u2019s demands are more important to you than ours\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do. The young man with the pistol was standing there the whole time. I was thinking, once I hang up this phone call is he going to shoot. So, I whispered a prayer under my breath,\u201d Mr Nuur adds.<\/p>\n
He says fortunately the man \u201cwalked out of the store without incident after I hung up the call\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Nuur says he decided to sell his business after two shopkeepers were gunned down in October.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing more valuable than human life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Critical of the government\u2019s directive, Mr Nuur adds: \u201cPeople trying to make ends meet are being pulled into a war against a powerful group that even the government has difficulties fighting. Just imagine how we feel as civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diriye denies that businesses are shutting down or that owners are being forced to install CCTV cameras.<\/p>\n
However, he acknowledges that some businessmen have fears, but says the government does its best to reassure them and to protect them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city is calm and business is smooth,\u201d Diriye adds.<\/p>\n
But Asiyo Mohamed Warsame tells the BBC that masked gunmen killed her 40-year-old brother Dahir Mohamed Warsame in his shop in Mogadishu\u2019s Yaqshid district in October after he installed CCTV cameras under pressure from the security forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left behind six children, with the youngest being only four months old,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Shopkeeper Ismael Hashi, 33, says he shut his business after anonymous calls from suspected al-Shabab operatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey knew my name plus more. It was as if they already knew everything about me,\u201d he tells the BBC.<\/p>\n
Mr Hashi adds that he later received a call from the police telling him to open his shop \u2013 and when he ignored them he was detained for a few days before being released.<\/p>\n
Mr Hashi says he has now reopened his business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have the CCTV cameras installed on the government\u2019s orders but I know the government cannot protect me if someone were to decide to take my life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I\u2019m standing behind the counter and someone I don\u2019t recognise walks in, I get nervous and wonder if this is the person sent to kill me,\u201d Mr Hashi adds.<\/p>\n
Sidow Abdullahi Mohamed, 39, tells the BBC that he was arrested for failing to install a CCTV camera at his home in Wajir district.<\/p>\n
He adds that 14 other people on his street were also arrested.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were transferred to the Wadajir district police station where we were detained for hours. We were eventually released after someone with a government ID came and vouched for us and got us out,\u201d Mr Mohamed says.<\/p>\n
He adds that he and the other residents have now installed CCTV cameras \u2013 but they live in fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs civilians we\u2019re forced to buy the cameras, pay to install them in our homes and risk violence from al-Shabaab. Is this how the government expects to win hearts and minds?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shop owners in Somalia\u2019s capital, Mogadishu, are caught between a rock and a hard place over a government directive that they install CCTV cameras outside their businesses to intensify surveillance of Islamist insurgents who have a strong presence in the city. The businessmen say if they put up the cameras they risk being gunned down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}