Driver lured Cuban doctors Landy Rodriguez and Herera Correa into Al Shabaab trap

Former driver Issack Ibrein Robow has been found guilty of abetting terrorism, by aiding in the abduction of two Cuban doctors - Landy Rodriguez and Herera Correa - in Mandera County.

Milimani Law Courts Magistrate Martha Nanzushi ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond doubt that Robow lure the two doctors into the hands of terrorists by intentionally driving into an ambush on April 12, 2019.

The medics were also being escorted by two police officers, one who was fatally shot during the kidnapping.

Dr Herera Correa (L), a general practitioner and Dr Landy Rodriguez, a surgeon who were kidnapped in Mandera County Dr Herera Correa (L), a general practitioner and Dr Landy Rodriguez, a surgeon who were kidnapped in Mandera County Pulse Live Kenya

Evidence produced in court showed that the driver was in communication with the armed militia who laid the ambush, via mobile phones he owned.

“After evaluating the evidence on record, I find the prosecution has proved the charges against the accused person herein and l convict him accordingly under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),” Magistrate Nanzushi ruled.

Robow is expected to appear in court on March 2, 2022, for sentencing.

After ambushing the car, the gunmen managed to escape to neighbouring Somalia with the doctors who remained captive for over one year.

Al Shabaab releases Cuban doctors abducted in Kenya

In October 2020, Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez confirmed the release of the two doctors.

Dr Correa and Dr Rodriguez were released following months of negotiations between the Somali government and Al Shabaab mediators.

Community elders met with the people holding the two doctors in a remote area between Buale and El-Ade in the Jubaland region of Somalia.

The delegates who negotiated with the abductors added that the doctors had continued to administer treatment to residents in the region where they were held, though their movements were highly restricted.

The doctors were are part of a team of 100 Cuban medics who were brought to Kenya to lend their expertise to the counties.

Cuban authorities did not disclose the conditions of their release, however, in May 2019 there were reports that the kidnappers had demanded a Sh2 million ransom.