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Prof Hassan Nandwa, the lawyer and scholar who went missing mysteriously was yesterday found dumped in Mwingi, Kitui county.

His client, ex-terror convict Elgiva Oliacha, who also went missing the same day he was released from Kamiti Maximum Prison on completion of his sentence, is yet to be found. 

Family members and officials said Nandwa was found alive on Monday at around 1am, about 200km from Nairobi.

Sources said he looked confused and appeared to have been drugged.

He was driven several kilometres before he was forced into a room where he was again subjected to both physical and mental torture. “At the moment he is very confused. He appears to have been drugged then tortured as he has bruises on his body,” a relative said.

National Police Service spokesman Bruno Shioso yesterday said the lawyer was a victim of crime and that the matter was under investigations.

Supreme Council of Muslims chairman Hassan Ole Naado said they were yet to get details of what happened. Former Earlier in the day, another spokesman for Jamia Mosque, Abu Ayman, said he had spoken to Nandwa and his family and that they were in Mwingi preparing their journey back to Nairobi. “He is in good health. I have spoken to him and he is okay,” he said.

Nandwa disappeared hours after he visited Anti-Terrorism Police Unit head offices in Nairobi to receive his client Oliacha, who had been released the same day.

Naado and the National Muslim Leaders Forum head Sheikh Abdullahi Abdiwho who spoke at the Jamia mosque yesterday said they were concerned that the security agencies had resorted to profiling and targeting Muslim leaders in the fight against terror.

Law Society of Kenya had issued a 24-hour notice to top government officials, to help in finding Nandwa, warning that they would move to court in case he is not found.

LSK chief executive Mercy Wambua called out the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and DCI boss George Kinoti to intervene in the matter, adding that it was clear that Nandwa’s disappearance was related to his legal career.

Direct violation

“From the above series of events, it is clear that Nandwa was abducted in the course of his professional work. We, therefore, demand his immediate release together with his client,” Wambua’s statement read.

“Advocates should not be forced to be selective in representing clients for fear of jeopardising their safety. These are actions that constitute a direct violation of the constitutional requirement of access to justice and impede the pursuit of justice,” Theuri said.  They had planned to hold country wide peaceful demonstrations under the “Purple Ribbon Campaign Week”, tomorrow.

Wambua urged lawyers to recognise the threat that such abductions and enforced disappearances continue to pose on the life and security of each and every one of them and urge advocates to turn out in large numbers, to participate in the week-long activities, as part of their solemn duty to uphold the rule of law.

“This scenario represents an existential threat to the ability of advocates to offer services to their clients in an environment that is devoid of intimidation, threats, harm or even loss of life,” she said.

Police headquarters, however, denied any involvement, urging those with information to share with other agencies. “The National Police Service will be interested in factual accusations if at all police are involved. We urge members of the public with information to file a formal complaint with the Internal Affairs Unit and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority for action,” Shioso said.

Nandwa represented Oliacha, a self-confessed terrorist, who was behind the October 24, 2011 terror attack at Kaka bus stage along racecourse road, Nairobi.

Oliacha, also known as Seif Deen Mohamed aka Japhar aka Japhel Okuku, is still missing amid reports that even after serving his jailterm, he was never rehabilitated.

Police claimed they had received reports that the ex-convict promised his former friends, who are serving various charges on terrorism at Kamiti Maximum Prison that he will stage an attack to free them immediately after being released. 

Police say they suspect he rejoined a terror cell, which he was in contact with while in remand. 

Former convict

Police are now appealing to the public, relatives and acquaintances to be on the lookout and immediately report to the nearest station in case they spot him. 

Further, the police are also urging matatu operators and boda boda riders to be on high alert and report in case they encounter the former convict.

His release led to an operation that saw his mother, brother and driver abducted and later freed. Police have since circulated a wanted person notice with Oliacha’s image on social media.

LSK moved to court last week seeking orders of habeas corpus for the production of the two before a court of law within 24 hours of issuance of the order.

Court ordered that pending the hearing and determination of the application, Safaricom was compelled to supply and produce before court the phone call records and Base Transmitting Station records and logs of the two missing people.

Wambua said this is not the first case where an advocate mysteriously disappeared in the course of their duty.

The same day, Oliacha’s mother, Jacinta Bwire, sister-in-law to former Westlands MP Fred Gumo, Gumo’s driver Willis Otieno and Oliacha’s brother had gone to pick him from prison. 

They were also later that evening kidnapped but were, however, released on October 30.